University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Peripheral biomarkers and brain behavior, structure, and function in healthy, aging adults

Hewes, Kelly

Content Files
HEWES-DISSERTATION-2022.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115857

Description

Title
Peripheral biomarkers and brain behavior, structure, and function in healthy, aging adults
Author(s)
Hewes, Kelly
Issue Date
2022-04-22
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Barbey, Aron
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Barbey, Aron
Committee Member(s)
  • Khan, Naiman
  • Mudar, Raksha
  • Wszalek, Tracey
Department of Study
Neuroscience Program
Discipline
Neuroscience
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Cognitive Neuroscience, Nutritional Neuroscience, Psychoimmunology,
Abstract
The current demographic landscape is shifting toward a population disproportionately comprised of adults over the age of 65-years-old. These changes are occurring at an unprecedented rate and challenging the healthcare system to meet the needs of aging-centered care for more people than ever before. As the brain ages it undergoes changes yielding deficits of varying severity, from cognitive deficits seen in normal aging to functional deficits experienced with pathological aging. Observational and interventional studies suggest peripheral factors could influence challenges arising from normal brain aging, though the results are variable. Two such peripheral factors are nutrition, evidenced by studies in nutritional epidemiology, and inflammation, evidenced by studies in psychoneuroimmunology. The unique and regulated barrier between the periphery and the brain, commonly referred to as the blood-brain barrier, determines which nutrients and inflammation factors gain access to the central nervous tissues. Some nutrients, such as xanthophyll carotenoids, can cross this barrier while markers of inflammation are more regulated, with greater access permitted as the integrity of the barrier declines with age. Because these peripheral biomarkers have access to brain tissue, it is possible that they impact changes in cognitive function associated with brain aging by influencing brain structure, network connectivity, and white matter integrity. As such, these biomarkers are potential targets for intervention studies and precision medicine approaches to ameliorate normal brain aging. The following dissertation expands on how xanthophyll carotenoids and inflammation factors moderate relationships that predict facets of intelligence across imaging modalities, providing converging evidence that these peripheral biomarkers impact human health, aging, and disease.
Graduation Semester
2022-08
Type of Resource
Thesis
Handle URL
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115857
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2022 Kelly Hewes

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