MIND diet, cerebrovascular health, and cognition among community-dwelling older adults.

INTRODUCTION

Understanding of the Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND) diet's association with cerebral arteriosclerosis, and whether cerebrovascular outcomes link diet to cognition is limited.

METHODS

We included 713 participants (81 ± 7.2 years old, 77% female, 16 ± 2.9 years of education) with complete food frequency questionnaire, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, and cognitive assessments. ARTS (arteriolosclerosis score), a fully automated in vivo MRI-based marker of arteriolosclerosis, white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and total brain volume (TBV) were computed.

RESULTS

A higher MIND diet score was associated with lower ARTS score (β = -0.009, standard error [SE] = 0.003, p = 0.012) and WMH volume (β = -0.018, SE = 0.008, p = 0.03), and a higher TBV (β = 0.153, SE = 0.07, p = 0.03), controlling for demographics and other lifestyle factors. Diet and global cognition association (β = 0.0506, SE = 0.011, p < 0.0001) was partially mediated by ARTS score (8.5%; β = 0.0048, SE = 0.002, p = 0.032) and TBV (9%; β = 0.005, SE = 0.011, p = 0.035).

DISCUSSION: The MIND diet score is associated with a lower likelihood of small vessel arteriosclerosis as assessed by ARTS, lower WMH, and higher TBV. Cerebrovascular health may partially explain the diet-cognition link among older adults.