Summary of Scientists Identify Brain Aging “Sweet Spot”:
New research has shown that indigenous communities in lowland Bolivia, such as the Tsimané and Mosetén, have some of the lowest heart and brain disease rates due to balanced food consumption and exercise levels. A study from the University of Southern California on the two communities indicated that a balanced combination of food consumption and physical activity could decrease disease risk and maximize healthy brain aging. The study found that the Mosetén showed better health than modern populations in Europe and North America — but not as good as the Tsimané. The researchers found that both communities come closer to the “sweet spot,” which involves balancing daily exertion and food abundance, which the authors think may be essential to healthy brain aging.
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Indigenous Communities in Lowland Bolivia Have Some of the Lowest Rates of Heart and Brain Disease, Study Shows
New research conducted by USC on Indigenous communities in lowland Bolivia reveals that a balanced combination of food consumption and physical activity can maximize healthy brain aging and minimize the likelihood of disease. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined the Tsimané and Mosetén communities, which reported some of the lowest heart and brain disease rates in recorded scientific history.
Optimal Levels of Food Consumption and Exercise Contribute to Healthy Brain Aging and Reduced Risk of Disease
The researchers enrolled 1,165 Tsimané and Mosetén adults aged 40-94 years and provided transportation for participants from their remote villages to the closest hospital with CT scanning equipment. The team used CT scans to measure brain volume by age and measured participants’ body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, other energy markers, and overall health.
Researchers found that the Tsimané and Mosetén experience less brain atrophy and improved cardiovascular health compared to industrialized populations in the U.S. and Europe. Rates of age-related brain atrophy, or brain shrinking, are correlated with risks of degenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Sweet Spot of Ideal Conditions for Disease Prevention
According to Andrei Irimia, an assistant professor of gerontology, biomedical engineering, quantitative/computational biology, and neuroscience at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and co-corresponding author of the study, the best place to be in terms of brain health and risk for disease is the “sweet spot” where the brain is being provided with neither too little nor too much food and nutrients, and where people get a vigorous amount of exercise.
“The Mosetén is an important intermediary population that allows us to compare a wide spectrum of lifestyle and health care factors. This is more advantageous than a straight comparison between the Tsimané and the industrialized world,” Irimia said.
The Future of Preventative Medicine Relies on an Understanding of Humans’ Evolutionary Past
According to Hillard Kaplan, a professor of health economics and anthropology at Chapman University, during our evolutionary past, more food and fewer calories spent getting it resulted in improved health, well-being, and ultimately higher reproductive success or Darwinian fitness. “This evolutionary history selected for psychological and physiological traits that made us desirous of extra food and less physical work, and with industrialization, those traits lead us to overshoot the mark.”
The study’s authors explained that people living in societies with abundant food and little requirement for physical activity face a conflict between what they consciously know is best for their health and the cravings or drives that come from our evolutionary past.
“This ideal set of conditions for disease prevention prompts us to consider whether our industrialized lifestyles increase our risk of disease,” said Irimia.
The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Science Foundation, and the French National Research Agency – Investissements d’Avenir.
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