Dementia

Dementia is a progressive neurocognitive syndrome characterized by a decline in memory, executive function, language, attention, and reasoning severe enough to interfere with daily functioning and independence, arising from underlying neuropathological processes such as Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular injury, Lewy body pathology, or frontotemporal degeneration (NIA, WHO). From a nutritional psychology perspective, dementia is understood as a multifactorial condition shaped in part by modifiable dietary and lifestyle exposures across the lifespan—including diet quality, ultra-processed food intake, micronutrient status (e.g., B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D), glycemic regulation, and microbiota-gut-brain axis integrity—which interact with psychological, behavioral, and psychosocial factors to influence neuroinflammation, vascular health, and cognitive resilience (Lancet Commission 2024, Alzheimer’s Association).