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Friday, October 26, 2012

Omega-3s Maximize Working Memory for Young Adults



Omega-3s Maximize Working Memory for Young Adults
A new study suggests healthy young adults ages 18-25 can improve their working memory by increasing their omega-3 fatty acid intake.

Researchers say the investigation is one of the first to look at omega-3s relationship to memory among healthy young adults. Omega-3 essential fatty acids are found in foods like wild fish and grass-fed livestock and are necessary for human body functioning.


University of Pittsburgh researchers have published their findings in the online journal PLOS One. Although the research clearly observed positive advances in memory, the biological mechanism by which this occurred was not discerned. “Before seeing this data, I would have said it was impossible to move young healthy individuals above their cognitive best,” said Bita Moghaddam, project investigator and professor of neuroscience.
“We found that members of this population can enhance their working memory performance even further, despite their already being at the top of their cognitive game.”

For the study the Pitt research team sought healthy young men and women from all ethnicities to boost their omega-3 intake with supplements for six months. Participants were monitored monthly through phone calls and outpatient procedures. Before they began taking the supplements, all subjects underwent positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, and their blood samples were analyzed. They were then asked to perform a working memory test in which they were shown a series of letters and numbers.

The young adults had to keep track of what appeared one, two, and three times prior, known as a simple “n-back test.” “What was particularly interesting about the presupplementation n-back test was that it correlated positively with plasma omega-3,” said Moghaddam. “This means that the omega-3s they were getting from their diet already positively correlated with their working memory.”

After six months of taking Lovaza—an omega-3 supplement approved by the Federal Drug Administration—the participants were asked to complete this series of outpatient procedures again. It was during this last stage, during the working memory test and blood sampling, that the improved working memory of this population was revealed. “So many of the previous studies have been done with the elderly or people with medical conditions, leaving this unique population of young adults unaddressed,” said Matthew Muldoon, project co-investigator and associate professor of medicine at Pitt. “But what about our highest-functioning periods? Can we help the brain achieve its full potential by adapting our healthy behaviors in our young adult life? We found that we absolutely can.”

Although the effects of omega-3s on young people were a focus, the Pitt team was also hoping to determine the brain mechanism associated with omega-3 regulation. Previous rodent studies suggested that removing omega-3 from the diet might reduce dopamine storage (the neurotransmitter associated with mood as well as working memory) and decrease density in the striatal vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (commonly referred to as VMAT2, a protein associated with decision-making). Therefore, the Pitt researchers posited that increasing VMAT2 protein was the mechanism of action that boosted cognitive performance.

Unfortunately, PET imaging revealed this was not the case. “It is really interesting that diets enriched with omega-3 fatty acid can enhance cognition in highly functional young individuals,” said Rajesh Narendarn, project principal investigator and associate professor of radiology. “Nevertheless, it was a bit disappointing that our imaging studies were unable to clarify the mechanisms by which it enhances working memory.”

Laboratory studies using animal subjects indicate that brain mechanisms that are affected by omega-3s may be differently influenced in adolescents and young adults than they are in older adults. With this in mind, the Pitt team will continue to evaluate the effect of omega-3 fatty acids in this younger population to find the mechanism that improves cognition.

Psych Central

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