Christian Knöchel, Martin Voss, Florian Gruter, Gilberto S. Alves, Silke Matura, Beate Sepanski, Michael Stablein, Dominik Kraft, David Prvulovic, Andre F. Carvalho, Andreas Reif and Viola Oertel-Knochel Pages 240 - 254 ( 15 )
Neurodegenerative diseases may directly affect memory performance, thus leading to functional impairments. An increasing body of evidence suggests an association between dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids and memory functioning in animal models as well as in human studies. Recent evidence supports a potential beneficial role of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on psychopathological and cognitive symptoms, beside their established positive effects on cardiovascular health. <p></p> Objective: We summarize relevant and recent evidence from epidemiological, interventional and experimental studies investigating dietary consumption of omega-3 fatty acids and emphazing mechanisms of memory disorders, with a focus on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Omega-3 fatty acid could represent an affordable and accessible adjunctive treatment option to improve cognitive and non-cognitive function with a focus on MCI or dementia. However, apart from its translational promise, which is based on mechanistic models and evidence from animal studies, evidence for clinical benefits in humans is lacking. <p></p> Method: To follow this research question, a search through electronic databases for the following search terms to identify relevant studies was conducted: ‘omega 3 fatty acids’, ‘cognition’, ‘memory’, ´Alzheimer´s Disease ´, ´dementia´, ´MCI`. Studies were included if they presented original data and were published in English between 1990 and 2015. <p></p> Results: To our the best of our knowledge, there are only 8 interventional studies that investigated the effects of n3-PUFAs in dementia patients, while 6 studies were conducted in healthy individuals, which in combination show equivocal results. <p></p> Conclusion: This verifies the need for larger and (more) well designed clinical trials.
Omega 3 fatty acids, psychiatric disorders, cognition, Alzheimer's dementia, MCI.
Laboratory of Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy; Heinrich-Hoffmann-Str. 10, Goethe-University, 60528 Frankfurt