New study investigates memory and mood in older people
Natalie Sinn, a researcher mentioned in this post is continuing her work in researching the benefits of PUFAs. The announcement follows:
A new study at UniSA’s Nutritional Physiology Research Centre will test the benefits of fish oil on memory and mood in older people.
UniSA researcher Dr Natalie Sinn is looking for volunteers aged 65 or over who are experiencing some memory loss, but do not have dementia, to participate in the study.
“We all find that our memory and thinking slows down as we age,” Dr Sinn said.
“For many people this can occur more rapidly and interfere with their daily lives leading to dementia and in some cases depression. Dementia and depression have been associated with poorer blood flow in the brain, and there is some evidence that lifestyle factors including diet may alleviate mood and cognitive decline.”
Dr Sinn said that omega-3 fatty acids play a number of important roles in brain function and blood flow and have been associated with reduced risk of dementia and depression.
“We want to investigate therefore the benefits of omega-3s for cognition and memory with ageing, and determine whether improvements in cognition and memory are associated with improved blood flow in the brain,” she said.
“This study will compare, for the first time, the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These are both important for brain function, however different fish oils have different quantities of DHA and EPA and we don’t know which ratio is most effective.
“We also want to run analyses of volunteers’ blood to measure fatty acids and biological markers that will assist us in gaining greater understanding of physical underpinnings of cognitive decline and response to fish oil. This may help us to gain further understanding about the biological profiles of these people and also work out who may get the most benefit from taking omega-3s.”
The study is being undertaken at UniSA and is supported by the Australian Research Council and Novasel Australia with collaborators at CSIRO Human Nutrition and the University of Oxford in the UK.
Dr Sinn is looking for adults aged over 65 who have been noticing signs of memory loss but who do not have dementia. They can’t currently be taking any fish oil supplements or eat fish more than once a week. For further information phone Dr Sinn on 8302 1757 or Catherine Milte on 8302 1452.
Contact: Kelly Stone office (08) 8302 0963 mobile 0417 861 832 email kelly.stone@unisa.edu.au