Healthy brain aging linked to omega-3 and omega-6 fatty
acids in the blood
University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Two
new studies link patterns of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood to the
integrity of brain structures and cognitive abilities that are known to decline
early in aging.
The
studies add to the evidence that dietary intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty
acids can promote healthy aging, the researchers said. Further research is
needed to test this hypothesis, they said.
The
brain is a collection of interconnected parts, each of which ages at its own
pace. Some brain structures, and the abilities they promote, start to
deteriorate before others, said University of Illinois M.D./Ph.D student Marta
Zamroziewicz, who led the new research with psychology professor Aron Barbey.
"We studied a primary network of the brain -- the frontoparietal network -- that plays an important role in fluid intelligence and also declines early, even in healthy aging," Zamroziewicz said. Fluid intelligence describes the ability to solve problems one has never encountered before.
"In
a separate study, we examined the white matter structure of the fornix, a group
of nerve fibers at the center of the brain that is important for memory,"
she said.
Previous
research has shown that the fornix is one of the first brain regions to be
compromised in Alzheimer's disease.
In
both studies, the researchers looked for patterns of polyunsaturated fatty
acids in the blood of adults ages 65 to 75.
They analyzed the relationship
between these nutrient patterns and subjects' brain structure and performance
on cognitive tests. This research differs from other such studies, which tend
to focus on only one or two polyunsaturated fatty acids, Zamroziewicz said.
"Most
of the research that looks at these fats in health and healthy aging focuses on
the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, but those come from fish and fish oil, and
most people in the Western Hemisphere don't eat enough of those to really see
the benefits," she said.
Other fatty acids, like alpha-linolenic acid and
stearidonic acid, are precursors of EPA and DHA in the body. Those fats can be
derived from land-based foods such as nuts, seeds and oils.
"A
central goal of research in nutritional cognitive neuroscience is to understand
how these nutrients affect brain health," Zamroziewicz said. "Some of
these nutrients are thought to be more beneficial than others."
In
a study reported in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience, the
researchers looked for relationships between several omega-3 fatty acids in the
blood, the relative size of structures in the frontal and parietal cortices of
the brain, and performance on tests of fluid intelligence in healthy elderly
adults.
The
team found correlations between blood levels of three omega-3 fatty acids --
ALA, stearidonic acid and ecosatrienoic acid -- and fluid intelligence in these
adults.
Further analyses revealed that the size of the left frontoparietal
cortex played a mediating role in this relationship.
People with higher blood
levels of these three nutrients tended to have larger left frontoparietal
cortices, and the size of the frontoparietal cortex predicted the subjects'
performance on tests of fluid intelligence.
"A
lot of research tells us that people need to be eating fish and fish oil to get
neuroprotective effects from these particular fats, but this new finding
suggests that even the fats that we get from nuts, seeds and oils can also make
a difference in the brain," Zamroziewicz said.
In
the second study, the team found that the size of the fornix was associated
with a balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the blood, and that a more
robust fornix coincided with memory preservation in older adults.
Again, the
researchers saw that brain structure played a mediating role between the
abundance and balance of nutrients in the blood and cognition (in this case,
memory). The findings are reported in the journal Aging & Disease.
"These
findings have important implications for the Western diet, which tends to be
misbalanced with high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids and low amounts of omega-3
fatty acids," Zamroziewicz said.
"These
two studies highlight the importance of investigating the effects of groups of
nutrients together, rather than focusing on one at a time," Barbey said.
"They suggest that different patterns of polyunsaturated fats promote
specific aspects of cognition by strengthening the underlying neural circuits
that are vulnerable to disease and age-related decline."