title: Natural mood foods: the actions of polyphenols against psychiatric and cognitive disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Polyphenols, natural compounds found in plant-based foods, possess special properties that can battle oxidative stress and stimulate the activation of molecules that aid in synaptic plasticity, a process that underlies cognitive function. Unlike many traditional treatments, polyphenols affect a broad range of mechanisms in the brain that can assist in the maintenance of cognitive and mental health, as well as the recovery from neurodegenerative diseases. Examining the molecular basis underlying the link between food intake and brain function has presented the exciting possibility of using diet as a viable method to battle cognitive and psychiatric disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  We will discuss the molecular systems that link polyphenols, the gut, and the brain, as well as introduce published human and animal studies demonstrating the effects of polyphenol consumption on brain plasticity and cognition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  By influencing cellular energy metabolism and modulating the signaling pathways of molecules involved with brain plasticity, dietary factors--formerly recognized for just their effects on bodily systems--have emerged as affecters of the brain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thus, the consumption of diets enriched with polyphenols may present the potential of dietary manipulation as a non-invasive, natural, and inexpensive therapeutic means to support a healthy brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Fgomezpi@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gomez-Pinilla
authors.forename: Trang T J
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D002392:Catechin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003474:Curcumin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D004032:Diet; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D009424:Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D059808:Polyphenols / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D059808:Polyphenols; D002392:Catechin; C045651:epigallocatechin gallate; D003474:Curcumin