Home Dee Dee Health Tip – Feb. 12 – Omega-3 Boosts Working Memory in Young...

Health Tip – Feb. 12 – Omega-3 Boosts Working Memory in Young Adults

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Working memory – for example, the ability to recall street addresses or phone numbers – is in top form when we’re in our teens and early twenties, and then gradually declines. The good news? A recent study suggests that increasing omega-3 intake can improve on even the high level of working memory typical of young adults.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh evaluated the memory of healthy young people with a test that involved remembering a series of numbers and letters. The participants also underwent PET scans (positron emission tomography) and blood tests to measure omega-3s. The researchers reported that performance on the memory test positively correlated with the amounts of omega-3 the young people were getting from their diets before beginning the study.

They then asked the participants to take daily omega-3 supplements for six months. Afterwards, tests showed that working memory among the participants was measurably improved, although the investigators were unable to determine from the imaging tests precisely what mechanism omega-3 influenced in the brain to enhance memory.

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