Nutr Rev. Ruo Chen Feng et al.

Context: The prevalence of age-related cognitive decline has been on the rise as the global population age, putting the independence and quality of life of elderly at risk. Anthocyanin, as a subclass of dietary flavonoids, may have a beneficial impact on cognitive outcomes.

Objectives: To examine the effects of dietary anthocyanin supplementation on cognition of the cognitively healthy middle-aged and older adults.

Data sources: PubMed, ScienceDirect, CINAHL, EMBASE, ProQuest and Cochrane databases were searched.

Data extraction and analysis: Thirteen studies were included in this meta-analysis. Anthocyanin-rich supplementation was found to significantly improve the processing speed of the older adults (95%CI 0.08, 0.44; P = 0.004). No significant differences were observed between intervention and control groups on memory, attention, executive function and psychomotor performance. Current neuroimaging studies have found promising effects of anthocyanin supplementation on brain activation and cerebral perfusion.

Conclusion: Anthocyanin-rich supplementation may preserve cognitive processing speed and neuro-activities in older adults, which improves their daily functioning and quality of life. This review provides useful insights to guide direction and methodological designs for future studies to explore the underlying mechanisms of anthocyanins.