Effects of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on visual and cognitive development throughout childhood: A review of human studies

The Role of Nutrition in Children's Neurocognitive Development, From Pregnancy Through Childhood

“…They promote neuronal and dendritic spine growth and synaptic membrane synthesis, and hence influence signal processing, and neural transmission. In addition, essential fatty acids regulate gene expression in the brain (McCann and Ames, 2005;Eilander et al, 2007;Innis, 2007;Cetina, 2008;Wurtman, 2008;Ramakrishnan et al, 2009;Ryan et al, 2010;Schuchardt et al, 2010;De Souza et al, 2011). Therefore, the existing literature strongly suggests that essential fatty acids are critical for brain development and function.…”

“…Reviews of these studies have concluded that there are indications that supplementing lactating mothers with fish oil may positively influence cognitive development in children (Eilander et al, 2007;Hoffman et al, 2009). …”

“…By contrast, in formula and breastfed infants the differences in brain DHA concentrations are small, such that the positive effects of LCPUFA on cognitive development may be difficult to detect. Eilander et al (2007) also concluded that there is no evidence that formula supplementation in term infants is beneficial for cognitive development. On the other hand, Hoffman et al (2009) reviewed 20 studies and suggested that those trials which supplemented formula milk with a similar level of DHA to breast milk (i.e., to an average of 0.32%) found beneficial outcomes.…”

“…A major intake of DHA in the brain happens in the last trimester of pregnancy; therefore, preterm infants are disadvantaged and have decreased brain concentration of this vital LCPUFA. Eilander et al (2007) indicated that supplementing formula milk with LCPUFA may be beneficial for the cognitive development of preterm infants. However, a recent Cochrane review undertaken on preterm infants reported no significant outcome of supplementation with LCPUFA on their cognitive development (Schulzke et al, 2011).…”

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesis in fish: Comparative analysis of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) Δ6 fatty acyl desaturase gene promoters

“…Synthesis of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) requires two further elongation steps, a second Δ6 desaturation and peroxisomal chain shortening (Sprecher, 2000), However, the production of LC-PUFA from C18 fatty acids is inefficient in humans (Salem et al, 1999;Brenna, 2002;Burdge and Calder, 2005). This fact underpins the well-known phenomenon that increasing our dietary intake of EPA and DHA has beneficial effects in a number of inflammatory and pathological conditions, including cardiovascular and neurological diseases (Brouwer et al, 2006;Eilander et al, 2007;Ruxton et al, 2007), and the much greater efficacy of fish oil containing these LC-PUFA than linseed/flax oil, rich in 18:3n-3, in intervention studies (Torrejon et al, 2008;Brenna et al, 2009). …”