AANP – DHA Improves Memory Degree In Women, Memory Speed In Men – (Wednesday, April 17, 2013)–A new study suggests that memory function in young people whose diets are low in the omega-3 acid known as docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, improves with supplementation of 1,160 mg of DHA daily and that the effect is different in men and women. (DHA is one of the omega-3 fatty acids found in cold water fatty fish, such as salmon. Memory abilities are the building blocks of everyday cognition-related behavior.) Previous studies only studied DHA effect on elderly people. But this study investigated DHA effect on the memory abilities of DHA-deficient subjects aged 18 to 45, a group the scientific team defined as young men and women. After six months, all subjects were re-tested on cognitive abilities using a warfare-based computer game. Compared to placebo, women improved more in episodic memory, and men improved more in episodic reaction time. (Episodic memory includes the degree of recall of times, places and events; episodic reaction time includes speed of this recall.)
