Nutrition psychology. Mental erosion by malnutrition. The Case for Anterior and Subgenual Cingulate Cortex

Although Finnish politicians repeat that Finland is the happiest country in the world, Finland has the highest prevalence of Alzheimer's in the world, the most depression in the EU, according to the police, Finnish women's relational aggressiveness is their biggest challenge, and more kids than ever are diagnosed with adhd. Recently, Finland's largest tabloid reported that elementary schools and kindergartens have bought armored clothes to protect the personnel against the children (It's not a joke). The human brain has unique structures, e.g. Cingulate Cortex, which plays a central role in coordination, and is part of regulating emotions. Humans executive functions unpack during the first four years of living as is facilitated by several factors, including nutrients. All of the issues mentioned above seem to have a common source of variation - malnutrition. 5 pages.

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Although Finnish politicians repeat that Finland is the happiest country in the world, Finland has:

• most cases of Alzheimer's per capita on planet Earth, twice as many cases per capita compared to Sweden. The Finnish Brain foundation predicts that 50% of all women and 30% of all men over 45 years of age, will suffer from a serious brain disease (Mark the word serious). They mean Alzheimer's. That's ~800 000 Finns in total. One marker for Alzheimer's is aggression.
  
  
• Finnish women's relational aggressiveness (psychological violence; Crick and Grotpeter, 1995; Hyde 2005) is a huge issue (Helsingfors Police Department, 2022).
  
  
• most cases per capita of depression of all countries within the European Union (EU) (Estlander, 2023).
  
  
• 40% of Finnish school kids are victims of psychological violence at home (Estlander, 2023). If elementary school is counted, that's more than 200 000 kids.
  
  
• More kids than ever are diagnosed with adhd - which is lack of emotional and social adjustment.

Recently, Finland's largest tabloid – Helsingin Sanomat – reported that elementary schools and kindergartens have bought armored clothes to protect the personnel against the children (No, it's no joke). Here's my take (Österberg, 2024).

Why is all of the above occurring?

Humans are the only animals who can direct their efforts and attention to an imaginary destination forward in time (Gilbert och Wilson, 2007). This capacity – the executive functions – started to come about after our ancestors added bone marrow and meat to their diet, and their brains started to expand - from the occipetal lobe and forward (Aiello och Wheeler, 1995; Ardila, 2008, Ardila et al. 2018; Adornetti, 2016; Dunbar, 2020; Mann, 2018; McPherron et al. 2010; Thompson et al. 2019). One of several particular parts of the brain which makes us different from other animals is the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC):

“ ... the anterior cingulate cortex is a specialization of neocortex rather than a more primitive stage of cortical evolution. Functions central to intelligent behavior, that is, emotional self-control, focused problem solving, error recognition, and adaptive response to changing conditions, are juxtaposed with the emotions in this structure” ... “The anterior cingulate cortex contains a class of spindle-shaped neurons that are found only in humans and the great apes, and thus are a recent evolutionary specialization probably related to these functions. The spindle cells appear to be widely connected with diverse parts of the brain and may have a role in the coordination that would be essential in developing the capacity to focus on difficult problems. Furthermore, they emerge postnatally and their survival may be enhanced or reduced by environmental conditions of enrichment or stress, thus potentially influencing adult competence or dysfunction in emotional self-control and problem-solving capacity” (Allman et al. 2001).

Another part of the Cingulate Cortex, the subgenual, located under the Corpus Callosum, plays an important role in affective processing - sustaining elevated arousal in anticipation of positive emotional events (Rudebeck et al. 2013).

The unpacking of the executive functions:

• takes place during early upbringing (Baumrind, 1966) and includes emotional and social adjustment, as well as cognitive development, including numeracy (Izard et al. 2009; Starr et al. 2013), international prospection (Barkley, 2001), and visuospatial perception (Baker et al. 2020; Farran och Formby, 2011; Gopnik, 2016; Olsson, 2022).
  
  
• is facilitated by the quality of conversation in the home environment (Hart och Risley, 1995), father relations (LaFlamme et al. 2012; Rolle et al. 2019; Sethna, 2017; Vieno et al. 2009, 2014; Österberg, 2004), drawing person-like-figures on command (Arden et al. 2014), and by eating a plethora of micronutrients (30-75) together*(Brown, Kay, Thompson, 2024; Dunbar, 2017; Lustig, 2017).

*Together has two meanings here: 1. all micronutrients should be served on the same plate, 2. the meal should be eaten in a social context, e.g. with other people around a table.

Research on adults doing intermittent fasting (12-48 hours) shows it will favor the functions of the brain and the mind (Österberg, 2024 b). When eating, it's therefore important to make sure to consume 30-75 micronutrients, e.g. vitamin A, B-complex, C, D-complex, E, and K2. choline, heme-iron, zink, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and magnesium, iodine, taurin, sodium, chloride, and so on, from the same plate.

Ede (2019) suggests that we need to eat animal fat, that is, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to sustain mental functions:

“Perhaps most importantly, DHA is critical to the development of the human cortex—the part of the brain responsible for higher-order thinking. Without DHA, the highly sophisticated connections necessary for sustained attention, decision-making, and complex problem-solving do not form properly”.

It's also common knowledge that we need to consume saturated fats to produce myelin, a white fat which makes transfer between nerve cells in the brain possible (Mayo CLinic, 2016).

People who abstain from animal source food also report mental issues - neuroticism, anxiety, depression (Dobersek et al. 2021), and have a higher risk of contracting Dementia, e.g. Alzheimer's (Ylilauri et al. 2019).

Some people fall victim to Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID):

“Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a feeding and eating disorder (FED) recently introduced to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in 2013 (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013; 2022). ARFID presents as selective and restrictive eating behaviours that hinder to meet nutritional needs and can occur at any age. ARFID often includes psychosocial impairments involving difficulties sustaining relationships and participating in social events (APA, 2022; Iron-Segev et al., 2020)”.

In a large-scale structural MRI study evaluated and compared the brain morphology of 121 children with and 1,856 children without ARFID symptoms.

“Those with ARFID symptoms presented with significantly greater superior frontal/frontal cortical thickness, which were unaffected upon adjustment for BMI” (Sader et al. 2024).

In general, it seems like a reduction of grey matter takes place to increase white matter (myelin) in the brain:

“In typical populations, greater thickness of cortical grey matter, particularly prefrontal cortical thickness, undergoes rapid development in children aged 5–11 years” – “cortical gray matter density reduction could be attributable to, in part, increased proliferation of myelin into the periphery of the cortical neuropi” (Sowell et al., 2004).

But in some areas of the brain, like the Subgenual Cingulate Cortex (sgACC), a reduction of grey matter is not favorable:

“In a combined positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging study of mood disorders, we demonstrated that the mean gray matter volume of this “subgenual” ACC (sgACC) cortex is abnormally reduced in subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder, irrespective of mood state” (Drevets et al. 2008).

“These data indicate that low-DHA status is associated with reduced indices of metabolic function in the ACC and slower reaction time during sustained attention in developing male children” (McNamara et al. 2013).

Conclusion. All of the above seems to have a common source of variation - malnutrition.

Also read:

Women's domestic violence, diet-heart hypothesis, and ADHD. The case for Typ 1 & 2 errors and malnutrition

Nutrition psychology. "A forgotten disease is raging in Finland, which takes away the work efficiency of working-age People" (Örn).

SwedishFinnish Yle claims that eating disorders are caused by social media. In reality, it's Complex childhood trauma

Nutrition psychology. Meat, fat, and health. The case for Continued Influence bias.

Nutrition psychology. Are [Swedish] meatballs and mashed potatoes part of the Uralic-Finnish heritage?

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