The first research projects to emerge from a tie-up between Abbott and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) will advance our understanding of the relationship between diet and cognition - and help Abbott create the next generation of brain foods targeting consumers at every life stage - claims the healthcare giant.

Abbott: Brain food collaboration could lead to 'innovative nutritional products across all of our categories including pediatric, adult and performance nutrition'

Speaking to NutraIngredients-USA after announcing 13 projects set to receive between $175,000 and $2.5m to probe the effects of diet on the brain, an Abbottspokesperson said:

Cognition research is one of Abbotts top global priorities."

The research collaboration is intended to help uncover relationships between nutrition and cognition, and carry those discoveries to innovative nutritional products across all of our categories including pediatric, adult and performance nutrition.

In the 2012 funding round, the partners received 46 initial proposals, which were then whittled down to 21 full proposals, 13 of which got the green light.

While nearly $10m in funding was granted during the first year, Abbott will continue to support research for the next four years at a level driven by the quality of proposals submitted."

Commercial potential

The commercial potential was clear, said Abbott:There is strong consumer interest in the connection between food/nutrition and learning, memory and brain health and thus Abbott began to pursue research in this area.

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Abbott Nutrition: ‘Cognition research is one of our top global priorities’