Nutritional Neuroscience: The Metal in Your Head

Michael Wenger, Department of Psychology

Iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA): they used to be called "tired blood,'' and in the 1950s and 1960s, celebrity spokespersons such as Betty White described the effects of ID/IDA as feelings of being run-down or tired, or just a little slow. All of this, it was suggested, could be fixed by a couple of tablespoons of Geritol. However, instead of what might be considered a mild inconvenience, ID and IDA are major health concerns, representing the single most prevalent nutrient deficiency in the world, with some estimates suggeting that more than 1.6 billion people world-wide are affected. The majority of those affected are children and women of reproductive age, although there are important effects later in life as well. Although the risk factors for ID and IDA include poverty and other resource limitations, both are prevalent in developed nations and in resource-rich contexts.

Understanding the relationships between iron status and brain health requires the ability to think about those relationships simultaneously at multiple levels of analysis: the biochemistry of iron homeostasis, the cellular neuroscience of iron and its effects on neurotransmitters and brain energy use, the systems-level neuroscience of the effects of iron on brain circuits, and the cognitive psychology relating all of this to the ways in which we function in the world. The need to think of these issues at all of these levels is the hallmark of psychology, an inherently integrative science. As such, consideration of the multiple facets of iron deficiency offers a unique and compelling opportunity to engage students near the close of their undergraduate experience in the thinking-across-levels that is requisite in psychology.

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The Department of Psychology presents a public lecture series in conjunction with the Presidential Dream Course. Presentations are free and open to the public. For information or accommodation to events on the basis of disability, contact Michael Wenger, Michael.J.Wenger@ou.edu.