CB3 team launching study to explore beef's impact on brain health

A team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior is launching a first-of-its-kind study to explore potential links between beef consumption and brain health.

Utilizing brain imaging, blood biomarkers and surveys over a 12-week study, researchers led by Aron Barbey, the center's director, will explore how beef consumption impacts brain health in young adults. 

The research team received funding from the Nebraska Beef Council, Texas Beef Council and National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, and will collaborate with the university's Department of Animal Science and Loeffel Meat Lab.

“Our research investigates the impact of diet and nutrition on brain health across the lifespan,” said Barbey, the Mildred Francis Thompson University Professor. “Recent advances in neuroscience have highlighted the importance of nutrition for maintaining brain health and supporting cognitive function. Drawing on Nebraska’s expertise in meat science and beef production, this study investigates the potential link between beef consumption and brain health, offering new insights into how everyday foods can influence cognitive performance.”

The research builds on Barbey’s earlier work, which identified key nutrients that support healthy brain aging. Now, he is extending his focus to include commonly consumed foods, such as beef, and their potential impact on cognitive and brain health.

“As we work to improve public health, it’s crucial to explore how foods like beef might influence brain function,” he said. “Understanding which proteins and nutrients most affect brain health is a fundamental question in neuroscience, yet one that remains largely unexplored.”

The team, which also includes graduate students Jisheng Wu and Allie Angebrandt, is actively recruiting 240 participants for the study, which will launch in the spring semester. The researchers are seeking undergraduates, 19-24 years old, who are in good health. Participants will undergo a 12-week dietary intervention with beef, which will be provided from the Loeffel Meat Lab. Participants will complete a battery of cognitive, nutritional and brain health tests at pre- and post-intervention, along with dietary and health surveys throughout the trial. For more information on how to participate, as well as details about financial compensation, click here or contact the research team at [email protected].

Biography :

Aron Barbey directs the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior and the Decision Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He began his career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he became founding director of the Center for Brain Plasticity, director of the Intelligence, Learning and Plasticity Initiative and chair of the Intelligent Systems Major Research Theme at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. 

Barbey's research investigates how intelligence emerges from the network organization and dynamics of the human connectome, adopting an interdisciplinary approach combining methods from the psychological, computational and brain sciences. An important goal of his work is to establish a sound foundation for clinical research that aims to remediate disturbances of brain function in psychiatric illness and traumatic brain injury. His group has won more than $26 million in research funding, with support from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the White House BRAIN Initiative, the National Institutes of Health, the Naitonal Science Foundation and private industry.