Science Alert reports:

A calorie-restricted diet could slow down the aging that naturally happens in the brain as we get older, according to a new study of rhesus monkeys, and the findings could also be relevant to brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Researchers led by a team from Boston University analyzed the brains of 24 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that had been fed calorie-restricted or standard diets for more than 20 years.

After these lifelong dietary differences, the researchers found signs of healthier nerve communication and protection in brain tissue samples from the animals that consumed 30 percent fewer calories.

It adds to what we already know about diets with limited calories: By giving the body less fuel to work with, these diets can put the body’s metabolism into a more efficient mode – which, in this study, appears to have protected against some of the cellular wear and tear that normally comes with aging.

“While calorie restriction is a well-established intervention that can slow biological aging and may reduce age-related metabolic alterations in shorter-lived experimental models,” explains first author, Boston University neurobiologist Ana Vitantonio, “this study provides rare, long-term evidence that calorie restriction may also protect against brain aging in more complex species.” [Continue reading…]