Eating fish – long considered ‘brain food’ – mayreally be good for the old grey matter, as is a healthy dose of sunshine. University of Manchester scientists in collaborationwith colleagues from other European centres have shown that higher levels ofvitamin D – primarily synthesised in the skin following sun exposure but alsofound in certain foods such as oily fish – are associated with improvedcognitive function in middle-aged and older men.

The study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery andPsychiatry, compared the cognitive performance of more than 3,000 menaged 40 to 79 years at eight test centres across Europe.

The researchers found that men with higher levelsof vitamin D performed consistently better in a simple and sensitiveneuropsychological test that assesses an individual’s attention and speed ofinformation processing.

Previous studies exploring the relationship betweenvitamin D and cognitive performance in adults have produced inconsistentfindings but we observed a significant, independent association between aslower information processing speed and lower levels of vitamin D.

“The main strengths of our study are that it isbased on a large population sample and took into account potential interferingfactors, such as depression, season and levels of physical activity.

“Interestingly, the association between increasedvitamin D and faster information processing was more significant in men agedover 60 years, although the biological reasons for this remain unclear.”

“The positive effects vitamin D appears to have onthe brain need to be explored further but certainly raise questions about itspotential benefit for minimising ageing-related declines in cognitiveperformance.”