Researchers link consumer brain health demands with available measurement tools

24 Jun 2024 --- A new collaborative study has linked the brain benefits consumers say they want from diets and nutrients with what can be measured with available research tools.

The study was based on qualitative consumer research using focus groups, which documented the benefits consumers expected from nutritional products, how they articulate these benefits and how they expect them to play out in everyday life.

An international expert panel evaluated whether current cognitive performance tools or tasks can detect the specific cognitive benefits articulated by consumers.

“We learned that consumers sometimes struggle to articulate the experiences they have when eating foods or taking supplements with the intent to improve brain health,” says Alyssa Ghirardelli of NORC at the University of Chicago, US.

“However, we were able to gain important insights about these experiences and match those perceptions with existing tests used by cognitive psychologists to study the effects of nutrition on brain functions.” 

Knowledge gap challenges
Consumers often cite cognitive improvements as reasons for making dietary changes or using dietary supplements. 

If this motivation could be leveraged, it could significantly enhance public health. However, it is rarely considered in standardized cognitive tests for nutrition research, the paper’s authors say. The knowledge gap challenges the scientific substantiation of nutrition-based cognitive health benefits. 

The research paper, published in MDPI, summarizes the consumers’ perspective via a focus group approach by publishing a taxonomy or collection of terms bridging the two and is supported by the IAFNS — Advancing Food and Nutrition Sciences — Cognitive Health Committee.

The “Consumer Taxonomy of Cognitive and Affective Health in Nutrition Research” translates consumers’ thinking about cognition and emotion to relevant cognitive tests. The researchers concur that validated tests exist for consumer-desired benefits such as focused attention, sustained attention, episodic memory, energy levels and anxiety. The research connects science with real-life experiences.

However, aspects of cognitive performance such as prospective memory, a “flow” state and presence may require developing new tests or validating existing tests to detect a nutrition effect. Validated methods support scientific substantiation of the former and additional consumer benefits from nutrition.

Meanwhile, a new publication by the Gerontological Society of America evaluates critical nutritional choices that enhance cognition and decrease the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in later life.

Selective attention
Study participants were recruited through social media advertising and the Oracle Data Cloud. They were then directed to a Qualtrics survey to determine demographic and health-related behaviors, which 1176 completed.

Inclusion criteria included being aged 19 to 59 and using foods and nutritional supplements for brain health. Exclusion criteria were designed to ensure unbiased attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and behaviors toward healthy food and nutritional supplement usage. Additional information collected included race, ethnicity, geographic distribution and education level. 

The researchers say selective attention was often discussed during the focus groups with consumers aiming to improve their ability to focus on one task or stimuli in the presence of other distractions to complete daily tasks.

“Connecting those tests with the benefits expressed by consumers helps to connect the science with real-life experiences and helps us understand where we need to explore new ways to capture consumer experiences through experimental testing,” says Ghirardelli.

One individual said they were easily distracted and considered brain performance — the ability to stay focused and pay attention — and not being distracted by the phone, for example, necessary.

The authors conclude that “science can be leveraged to understand better the relevance of cognitive assessment tools to everyday life, support the scientific substantiation of consumer benefits and enhance understanding of what can be delivered by foods, diets and nutrients in terms of cognitive health.”

By Inga de Jong