Neurocognitive decline with aging and in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease represents a substantial public health concern that will produce suffering in patients and caregivers and enormous expenditures of health care resources. Effective medical treatment for dementia is not available. However, attention has begun to shift to preventive measures, and nutritional intervention represents a potentially potent approach to mitigate risk for late life dementia. We will review the findings of recent human trials examining the effects of blueberry supplementation on cognitive performance and brain function in older adults. These sorts of moderate-term intervention trials have methodological limitations, in particular associated with dose and duration of supplementation and uncertainty about metabolic processes and mechanisms. However, recent findings suggest that supplementation with flavonoid-rich blueberry offers the possibility of significant risk reduction, when practiced in advance of dementia.

Blueberry fruit supplementation in human cognitive aging

251st National Meeting (2016)

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