Diet, central nervous system, and aging.

A variety of morphological, structural, and chemical changes have been described in the central nervous systems of aging humans and animals. Brain size and volume decline during senescence, and the brain atrophy is accompanied by changes in the number, size, and ultrastructural characteristics of nerve and glial cells. Moreover, recent evidence suggests that the ability of central nervous system cells to communicate with one another via the release of neurotransmitter compounds might be impaired in the elderly. Nutritional factors may play important roles in the aging process of the central nervous system by influencing brain neurotransmission, or by accelerating or retarding geriatric changes in central nervous system structure.