Lutein & Zeaxanthin for Cognitive Function: A New Use for Eye Antioxidants

Lutein & Zeaxanthin for Cognitive Function: A New Use for Eye Antioxidants

Lutein & Zeaxanthin for Cognitive Function: A New Use for Eye Antioxidants

By Professor Gene Bruno, MS, MHS, RH(AHG) Huntington College of Health Sciences

The carotenoid antioxidants lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) are best known for their roles in healthy visual development and function, including the ability to efficiently absorb blue light.1 By absorbing blue light, T&Z limit the amount reaching critical visual structures of the eye, thereby providing some protection against resulting oxidative damage is offered2 – which can also provide a certain degree of neuroprotection. This is important because reduced oxidative stress has been proposed as a mechanism for neuroprotection. A lesser-known benefit of L&Z is their role in cognitive function, highlighted by the fact that L&Z make up 72 percent of total carotenoids in the infant brain and 41 percent in the adult brain.3,4

This cognitive role of L&Z was confirmed in a recently published study by theJournal of the International Neuropsychological Society.5 The hypothesis that lower L&Z concentrations are associated with neurobiological inefficiency during cognitive performance was tested in 43 older adults (mean age = 72 years; 58 percent female). L&Z concentrations were determined from serum samples and from retinal levels measured using non-invasive flicker photometry.

Functional MRI (fMRI) technology was used to measure participants' brain activity as they tried to remember pairs of words they had previously been taught. The researchers then analyzed brain activity while the participants were in the machine. The results were that people with higher L&Z levels didn't need as much brain activity to complete the task, while people with lower levels of these carotenoids needed higher brain activity.

Basically here is the whole story in a nutshell. As we age, some deterioration naturally occurs in the brain. However, the brain tends to compensate for this in a few ways. One of these ways is to increase brain activity to complete a job. This allows the brain to maintain the same level of cognitive performance. In the L&Z study, those with higher levels of these carotenoids didn't require more brain activity to do the job because they were "neuronally more efficient."

Not surprisingly, another 2014 study from the journalage and getting older,6 found that older adults with higher L&Z scores (measured as optical pigment density) had significantly better global cognition, verbal learning and fluency, memory, processing speed, and perceptual speed than those with lower scores.

Research suggests that 10 mg of lutein and 2 mg of zeaxanthin daily have beneficial effects – although additional benefits may occur when using 20 mg and 4 mg, respectively.7

References:
1 Halliwell B, Gutteridge JMC.Free radicals in biology and medicine.Third ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1999. 2 Krinsky NI, Landrum JT, Bone RA. Biological mechanisms of the protective function of lutein and zeaxanthin in the eye.Annual Rev. Nutr.2003;23:171-201. 3 Vishwanathan R, Kuchan MJ, Johnson EJ. Lutein is the predominant carotenoid in the child brain. Poster No. 1.23. 16th International Symposium on Carotenoids. Acta Biologica Cracoviensia Series Botanica.2011;53(suppl.1):29. 4 Johnson EJ et al., Brain lutein and zeaxanthin levels are associated with cognitive function in centenarians (abstract)FASEB J. 2011;25:975. 5 Lindbergh CA, Mewborn CM, Hammond BR, Renzi-Hammond LM, Curran-Celentano JM, Miller LS. 6 Relationship of lutein and zeaxanthin levels to neurocognitive functions: An fMRI study of older adults. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2016 Oct 25:1-12. [Epub ahead of print] 7 Vishwanathan R, Iannaccone A, Scott TM, Kritchevsky SB, Jennings BJ, Carboni G, Forma G, Satterfield S, Harris T, Johnson KC, Schalch W, Renzi LM, Rosano C, Johnson EJ. Macular pigment optical density is related to cognitive function in the elderly.Age aging. March 2014;43(2):271-5.

Gene Bruno, MS, MHS, the academic dean for Huntington College of Health Sciences, is a nutritionist, herbalist, writer and educator. For more than 30 years, he has educated and trained natural products retailers and healthcare professionals, researched and formulated natural products for dozens of dietary supplement companies, and written articles on nutrition, herbal medicine, nutraceuticals, and integrative health topics for trade and consumer magazines and peer-reviewed publications. He can be reached at gbruno@hchs.edu.

• Erwachsene
• Alter und Alterung
• Antioxidantien
• Bessere globale Wahrnehmung
• blaues Licht
• Gehirn
• Gehirnaktivität
• Carotinoid
• Carotinoide
• kognitive Leistungsfähigkeit
• Auge
• Geläufigkeit
• fMRT
• Funktionelle MRT-Technologie
• gesunde visuelle Entwicklung
• gesunde Sehfunktion
• Kleinkinder
• Zeitschrift der Internationalen Neuropsychologischen Gesellschaft
• L
• Lutein
• neurobiologische Ineffizienz
• Neuroprotektion
• Optische Pigmentdichte
• oxidative Schäden
• wahrgenommene Geschwindigkeit
• Prof. Gene Bruno Blog
• abrufen
• Forschung
• Geschwindigkeit
• Lernen
• verbales Lernen
• Z
• Zeaxanthin

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