Nestlé Research Center

Lausanne, Switzerland. October 26-27, 2006

The third Nestlé International Symposium hosted leading scientists from around the globe to address the subject of Nutrition and the Brain. The meeting opened a broad discussion on brain processes and the use of nutrition as a scientifically-based means to promote and maintain healthy neural signaling. 
 
Designed to be highly interactive, the symposium explored three aspects of brain function: peripheral input, central brain processing and behavioral output as it pertains to disease.

Scientists representing different areas of neurological expertise engaged in interdisciplinary and Q & A session on the critical scientific questions that formal presentations identified as unanswered.

Dimensions of Perception

How we experience the world around us through, for example, sight, smell and taste is only made possible through a complex neural network. Stimulation of the eyes, mouth, nose, or even gut sends signals to the brain, creating a direct neural picture of the environment or setting off a cascade of spatio-temporal patterns designed to decode these complex sensations.

The brain translates stimuli into perception through mechanisms of memory, feedback, reward and emotion. Science now recognizes that optimal functioning of this complex system requires a full complement of substrates and precursors to these processes, as well as an appropriate nutritional energy supply. Furthermore, research indicates that the balance of nutrients can affect the actual functioning of brain mechanisms.

Prospects Function and Benefit

Scientists today are only just beginning to understand the brain’s vulnerability to life-threatening and debilitating disease.  Future research will undoubtedly bring more knowledge of cause and effect relationships, and to some extent, help to predict human behavior in the face of neurological disorders.

The Nutrition symposium promoted dynamic, collaborative research among experts aspiring to map the brain’s complex circuitry—that which powers, enlivens, and excites our human existence. Undeniably, a greater understanding of the functioning brain will offer new avenues to improve the human condition.

Bringing breakthrough scientific research to improve human health and offering practical applications in food nutrition has been the Nestlé mission for 150 years. This symposium continues its success into yet another facet of health and wellness.

Media Contact:  
Hengameh van der Kaaij,
Telephone: +41 21 785 9557