correlation between vitamin D and cognition: a review

ABSTRACT

Background: During the last 25 years, vitamin D -being a member of the superfamily of nuclear steroid transcription regulators - has emerged as a serious candidate in nervous system development and function and a therapeutic tool in a number of neurological pathologies. More recently, experimental and pre-clinical data suggest a link between vitamin D status and cognitive function. Human studies strongly support a correlation between low levels of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25[OH]D] and cognitive impairment or dementia in aging populations. In parallel, animal studies show that supplementation with vitamin D is protective against biological processes associated with Alzheimer's disease [AD] and enhances learning and memory performance in various animal models of aging and AD. More recently epidemiological associations have been made between low vitamin D and psychiatric disorders not typically associated with abnormalities in brain development such as depression and Alzheimer's disease