News
September 2014: The Neurophenols team will presenting at the BENEFIQ, an international forum on health ingredients, which will be held on September 24-25th 2014 in Québec City.
Juin 2014: Alexandre Dal-Pan, Post-doc researcher at INAF, has participated at ISANH Congress at Lisbonne, the june 5th 2014.
December 2013: Nutrineuro laboratory has participated at the last meeting of the Institute of Nutrition Aquitaine Québec (INAQ), the december 10th 2013, in Bordeaux.
October 2013: Julien Bensalem, ACTIV’INSIDE PhD student linked to NUTRINEURO laboratory, won a Young Investigator Award at the " 6th International Congress on Polyphenols and Health" (ICPH6), in Buenos Aires (Argentina), the october 19th 2013.
May 2013: The Neurophenols Project was awarded for the Prix Agrimip des Lycéens 2013. This award is given to honor collaborative projects between scientific, technological, industrial and organizational large groups and academic research, in France (Aquitaine, Bretagne, Pays de la Loire) and Canada (Québec).
Issues
The human population is aging; the number of people over 65 years old is increasing steadily and will represent more than 16% of the world population in 2050, as compared to 7.5% in 2011 (source: National Institute of Demographic Studies, INED).
Aging comes with the onset of specific symptoms, including cognitive decline linked to brain aging. Age-related cognitive decline is characterized by a significant but non-pathological decline of cognitive functions including memory and alertness. In some cases, these symptoms can be precursors to Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, which, according to a report of the World Health Organization (WHO), represent more than 24 million people worldwide, out of nearly a billion suffering from neurological disorders. Due to the increasing number of elderly people, age-associated cognitive decline is a growing public health concern.
To deal with this situation, the scientific and industrial worlds are mobilizing. In parallel with medical research to find treatments against diseases linked to cognitive decline, innovative approaches, particularly in the field of food and nutrition, can participate in the "prevention" of seniors’ cognitive decline. In this context, awareness of the role of diet on cognitive health keeps growing, such as the scientific work carried out on the consumption of fish (Omega-3) or epidemiological studies on consumption of polyphenols. Thus, preliminary studies have highlighted the beneficial effects of some plant polyphenols on cognitive decline.