title: The Mediterranean Diet and Cognitive Function among Healthy Older Adults in a 6-Month Randomised Controlled Trial: The MedLey Study.
abstract: Evidence from a limited number of randomised controlled intervention trials (RCTs) have shown that a Mediterranean dietary pattern may reduce the risk of cognitive decline and enhance cognitive function among healthy older adults. However, there are currently no data in non-Mediterranean older adult populations. The present study aimed to address this gap by examining the effect of a Mediterranean dietary pattern (MedDiet) for six months on aspects of cognitive function in a randomised controlled intervention trial (the MedLey study) that extended for a duration of 18 months. In the final analysed cohort, a total of 137 men and women (mean age of 72.1 ± 5.0 years) randomly assigned to either a MedDiet or control diet (HabDiet) (i.e., habitual dietary intake), were assessed on a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery, including 11 individual tests. In multivariable-adjusted models, the MedDiet group did not perform significantly better than the HabDiet control group for executive functioning (adjusted mean differences: +2.53, 95% CI -2.59 to 7.65,p= 0.33); speed of processing (adjusted mean differences: +3.24, 95% CI -1.21 to 7.70,p= 0.15); memory (adjusted mean differences: +2.00, 95% CI -3.88 to 7.88,p= 0.50); visual-spatial ability (adjusted mean differences: +0.21, 95% CI -0.38 to 0.81, 0.48); and overall age-related cognitive performance (adjusted mean differences: +7.99, 95% CI -4.00 to 19.9,p= 0.19). In conclusion, this study did not find evidence of a beneficial effect of a MedDiet intervention on cognitive function among healthy older adults.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5001, Australia. alissa.knight@mymail.unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Alissa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5001, Australia. janet.bryan@unisa.edu.au.|Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5001, Australia. janet.bryan@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bryan
authors.affiliation: Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, School of Medicine, The Flinders University of South Australia, G.P.O. Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, Australia. carlene.wilson@flinders.edu.au.
authors.forename: Carlene
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Perth 6000, Australia. jonathan.hodgson@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5001, Australia. courtney.davis@mymail.unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Courtney R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5001, Australia. karen.murphy@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Murphy
keywords: Mediterranean diet; cognitive function; older adults; randomised controlled trial