Abstract

In the last decades, a high increase in life expectancy not adequately balanced by an improvement in the quality of life has been observed, leading possibly to an increase in the prevalence of affective and cognitive disorders related to aging, such as depression, cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. As mental illnesses have multifactorial aetiologies, many modifiable factors including lifestyle and nutrition play an essential role. Among nutritional factors, intermittent fasting has emerged as an innovative strategy to prevent and treat mental health disorders, sleep disturbances and cognitive impairment. Among all types of intermittent fasting regimens, the time restricted feeding appears to be the most promising protocol as it allows to induce benefits of a total fasting without reducing global calories and nutrients intake. This review summarises the evidence on the effect of time restricted feeding towards brain health, emphasising its role on brain signalling, neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity.

摘要

在过去的几十年里，人们观察到预期寿命的大幅增长并没有得到生活质量的改善的充分平衡，这可能导致与衰老相关的情感和认知障碍的患病率增加，例如抑郁症、认知障碍、痴呆症和阿尔茨海默病。由于精神疾病的病因是多方面的，包括生活方式和营养在内的许多可改变的因素起着至关重要的作用。在营养因素中，间歇性禁食已成为预防和治疗精神健康障碍、睡眠障碍和认知障碍的一种创新策略。在所有类型的间歇性禁食方案中，限时喂养似乎是最有前途的方案，因为它可以在不减少全球卡路里和营养素摄入量的情况下诱导完全禁食的好处。