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Nutrients for the Brain Across the Lifespan: Supporting Development, Function, and Healthy Aging

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Neuro Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 April 2026 | Viewed by 705

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Steven Zeisel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kannapolis, NC 28081, USA
Interests: choline intake; essential nutrient; nutrition metabolism; metabolomics; nutrigenomics; genetic variation; brain development; neural function
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Isis Trujillo-González

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Nutrition, Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kannapolis, NC USA
Interests: choline metabolism; epigenetics; neurodevelopment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nutrition plays a fundamental role in supporting brain health across the lifespan. From development to aging, diet influences neurotransmission, brain glucose utilization, neuronal plasticity, and structure, with direct consequences for behavior and function. This Special Issue, “Nutrients for the Brain Across the Lifespan: Supporting Development, Function, and Healthy Aging”, aims to highlight studies that capture how nutrition sustains the brain throughout life.

Genetic variants that alter nutritional status add further complexity, shaping brain outcomes from the prenatal period through to later years. Critical developmental windows represent particularly sensitive stages, where nutrients such as choline, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids exert long-lasting effects on neural outcomes. Nutrition is also key for the aging brain, so understanding what can support resilience, cognitive function and neural health in later life remains a pressing challenge.

We invite contributions that explore mechanistic pathways, the application of artificial intelligence to brain and nutrition research, and the impact of dietary patterns on brain health. Original research articles, methodological advances, and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Steven Zeisel
Guest Editor

Dr. Isis Trujillo-González
Co-Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • choline
  • micronutrients
  • brain development
  • cognition
  • omega-3 fatty acids
  • B vitamins
  • iron
  • prenatal nutrition
  • neuroinflammation
  • one carbon metabolism
  • healthy aging
  • essential nutrients
  • nutrient requirements

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 1814 KB  
Article
Dietary Pattern-Induced Gut Microbiota Differences Are Associated with White Matter Volume Changes in Middle-Aged Female Macaques
by Brett M. Frye, Haleigh Cooper, Jacob D. Negrey, Courtney Sutphen, Ravinder Nagpal, Jeongchul Kim, Richard A. Barcus, Samuel N. Lockhart, Christopher T. Whitlow, Janet A. Tooze, Hariom Yadav, Suzanne Craft, Thomas C. Register and Carol A. Shively
Nutrients 2026, 18(7), 1124; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18071124 - 31 Mar 2026
Viewed by 426
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Western and Mediterranean diets have divergent effects on the brain. The gut microbiome may mediate diet effects, and specific microbes may be particularly significant contributors to these processes. Oscillospira, a genus of gut-dwelling bacteria, has been implicated as a key [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Western and Mediterranean diets have divergent effects on the brain. The gut microbiome may mediate diet effects, and specific microbes may be particularly significant contributors to these processes. Oscillospira, a genus of gut-dwelling bacteria, has been implicated as a key microbial target. Other peripheral contributors may include short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), insulin resistance, and microbial translocation. Methods: We determined the effects of long-term (31 months, ~9 human years) consumption of a Mediterranean or Western-type diet on Oscillospira abundance, fecal SCFAs, plasma BCAAs, soluble CD14 (sCD14), and insulin responses in a randomized trial of 38 middle-aged female cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis). We determined diet effects and associations between dependent variables. For variables that were affected by diet composition and significantly associated with Oscillospira, we tested whether Oscillospira abundance mediated the effects of diet. Results: The Mediterranean diet resulted in higher Oscillospira (p = 0.004) and SCFAs (acetate p = 0.002; propionate p = 0.049) and lower BCAAs (isoleucine p = 0.035; leucine p = 0.007; valine p < 0.001). The Western diet increased insulin resistance (p = 0.040) and WM loss (p = 0.011). Oscillospira abundance was negatively associated with BCAAs (leucine p = 0.007; valine p = 0.005) and insulin resistance (insulin AUC: p = 0.024; increase in insulin AUC from pretreatment: p = 0.020), with trends for isoleucine (p = 0.066) and sCD14 (p = 0.103). Oscillospira abundance was positively associated with acetate (p = 0.032) and WM volume changes (p = 0.012). Oscillospira abundance significantly mediated the effects of diet on white matter volume changes (p = 0.020) and on insulin resistance (insulin AUC: p = 0.012 at study end; increase in insulin AUC during study: p = 0.020), presenting potential pathways through which diet may influence the brain. Conclusions: These findings suggest that diet-driven differences in Oscillospira are linked to metabolic regulation and white matter integrity, and Oscillospira may mediate the relationships. The results highlight a potential role for diet–microbiome interactions in shaping metabolic and brain aging trajectories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrients for the Brain Across the Lifespan: Supporting Development, Function, and Healthy Aging)
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