How Does Nutrition Affect The Brain

Register to read the introduction… But, in contrast to other environmental resources like healthcare and education, nutrition can directly modify gene structure and facilitate genetic factors by providing the specific molecules that enable genes to exert their potential or targeted effects on brain growth and development. The brain is a specialized tissue that depends upon the generation of electrical potentials and their conduction through long axonal components of cell-bodies and through the synaptic gaps between these cell-bodies for its function. These special functions of the brain require certain nutrients such as choline, folic acid, iron, zinc and special fats (e.g. gangliosides, sphingolipids and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)2.In addition, nutrition can have a direct effect on gene expression in the brain. In a study conducted by Levi and Sanderson, they concluded that due to inadequate nutrition the histone acetylation was altered. Also, hyperglycemic diets affected the genetic expression of neuronal factors2. Additionally, nutrients can act as growth factors. For example retinoic acid, the active form of vitamin A, is involved in central nervous system morphogenesis and patterning. Some nutrients facilitate the incorporation of experiences into cognitive functions by being the basic structural components of neuronal cell-bodies and synapses. For example, there is evidence that …show more content…
Thus, depletion of dietary iron stores are instantly detected via homeostatic regulatory mechanisms. These mechanisms are regulated by the blood-brain barrier in response to iron status. Mostly, the overall concentration of iron in brain tissue is adequate, with concentrations differing according to brain region and stage of development. Some areas of the brain that are important for cognition—such as the cortex, hippocampus, and striatum—are more sensitive to iron deficiency than others10. Iron affects the proper myelination of neurons and is a co-factor for a number of enzymes involved in neurotransmitter synthesis, including tryptophan hydroxylase (serotonin) and tyrosine hydroxylase (norepinephrine and dopamine)10,12. The role of iron in optimal neurotransmitter functioning is supported by a research study. The study’s results explains that the distribution of iron in the brain overlaps with the distribution of the neurotransmitters dopamine (DA) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)11. This co-localization of iron, DA, and GABA is important because the brain areas in which this occurs (e.g., the frontal cortex) regulate mental, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functions in children young 11. However, DA is the only neurotransmitter that has been consistently related to experimental changes in iron status. Animal studies have found that iron deficiency results in a reduction of DA