FEATURE: Save your brain
The researcher is investigating whether dietary supplements can help to slow the rate of cognitive decline. Image: monticelllo/iStockphoto Prolonging human life is one of science’s greatest achievements, but the holy grail of medicine would have to be arresting the deterioration in brain function, which can affect quality of life as people age. PhD candidate Matthew Pase is at the forefront of an ambitious new study to investigate whether dietary supplements can help to slow the rate of cognitive decline.The Swinburne trial is timely. “Our population is growing significantly older. One of the problems with ageing is cognitive decline,” says Professor Con Stough, the study’s lead investigator. He adds that ageing is the biggest predictor of dementia, which includes Alzeimer’s disease.Natural remediesPase, along with co-directors of Swinburne’s Centre for Psychopharmacology, professors Stough and Andrew Scholey, are focusing on the effects of a micronutrient combination designed by Professor Stough on cognitive performance. The supplements...