Current Research on Functional Foods and Brain - Neuroscience ...

In developed countries, therehasbeenanexponentialgrowth in the awareness of“Health”and “Functional”foods, healthful eating habit,mood and lifestyle.This isclearly shown by the rapidgrowthintheseareasofnutrition andsupplementaryfood industries, and billions ofdollarsspent worldwideonnatural and functional foods,andfood additivesandsupplements.The old expression, “We arewhat we eat” has becomemore familiar and, althoughsometime controversial,gaining stronger scientificsupport.Recent progress of research in both fields ofNutrition and Neuroscience has providedample of scientific evidence that variousspecific nutrients can influence and modifybrain andmentalfunctions.The information and knowledge gained in theseareas of scientific investigation begins to havegreat impact in our future planning for humanand social and economic development.Furthermore,there havebeenincreasing number of reports on thedietarymodulation ofanimalandhuman behavioursand/or mentalfunctionsduring thelastdecade.Theseinclude, dietarysugarandhyperactivity in children, ameliorationofsymptomsof seasonalaffectivedisorder by dietary sugars, reductionof mental stress and fatigue by theessence of chicken, improvement ofmental well-beingin elderly subjectsbydehydroepiandrosteroned d (DHEA)supplement, improvement of memoryfunctions by extract from the leave ofGingko biloba etc..In recent years, asurvey of the annual publications on“Nutrition and Brain Development andFunction” yieldedover 500publications, and since 1998 there is apeer-reviewedreviewed professional journal for“NutritionalNeuroscience”.Scientific American : April 1982Synaptic formationon the pyramidalcell in the cerebralcortex