Nutrition is associated with differences in multisensory integration in healthy older adults

ABSTRACT

Diet can influence cognitive functioning in older adults and is a modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline. However, it is unknown if an association exists between diet and lower-level processes in the brain underpinning cognition, such as multisensory integration. We investigated whether temporal multisensory integration is associated with daily intake of fruit and vegetables (FV) or products high in fat/sugar/salt (FSS) in a large sample (N = 2,693) of older adults (mean age = 64.06 years, SD = 7.60; 56% female) from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Older adults completed a Food Frequency Questionnaire from which the total number of daily servings of FV and FSS items respectively was calculated. Older adults’ susceptibility to the Sound Induced Flash Illusion (SIFI) measured the temporal precision of audio-visual integration, which included three audio-visual Stimulus Onset Asynchronies (SOAs): 70, 150 and 230 ms. Older adults who self-reported a higher daily consumption of FV were less susceptible to the SIFI at the longest versus shortest SOAs (i.e. increased temporal precision) compared to those reporting the lowest daily consumption (p = .013). In contrast, older adults reporting a higher daily consumption of FSS items were more susceptible to the SIFI at the longer versus shortest SOAs (i.e. reduced temporal precision) compared to those reporting the lowest daily consumption (p < .001). The temporal precision of multisensory integration is differentially associated with levels of daily consumption of FV versus products high in FSS, consistent with broader evidence that habitual diet is associated with brain health.

KEYWORDS:

• Ageing
• audition‌
• diet
• multisensory
• nutrition‌
• perception‌
• sound induced flash illusion
• vision‌

Data and code availability

To acquire access to the data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), see https://tilda.tcd.ie/data/accessing-data/. Data from the Sound Induced Flash Illusion are available in the publicly released dataset which can be accessed via a hotdesk facility or by requesting access through the Irish Social Science Data Archive or the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research. Information on how to access these data as well as direct links to the request forms can be found at https://tilda.tcd.ie/data/accessing-data/ and https://tilda.tcd.ie/data/accessing-data/hotdesk/. The complete R script with analysis code is publicly available on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/me34r/?view_only = 5e1db342831f41d28b69df45f5a2918b.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Health Research Board: [grant nos ILP-PHR-2017-014].

Notes on contributors

Alan O’Dowd

Alan O’ Dowd is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. His research interests include sensory function and multisensory perception across the lifespan.

Deirdre M.A. O’Connor

Deirdre M.A. O’ Connor is a nutritionist and PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Gerontology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Her research interests include the interplay between nutrition and cognitive health in older adults.

Rebecca J. Hirst

Rebecca J. Hirst is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Her research interests include sensory function and multisensory perception across the lifespan.

Annalisa Setti

Annalisa Setti is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, Ireland. Her research interests include ageing, cognitive psychology and multisensory perception.

Rose Anne Kenny

Rose Anne Kenny is Regius Professor of Physic and holds the Chair of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin. She is founding Principal Investigator of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Her research interests include cardiovascular and mobility disorders of ageing.

Fiona N. Newell

Fiona N Newell is a Professor in the School of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Her research interests include sensory function and the cortical and behavioural processes involved in human perception across the lifespan.