A study published in the  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in March of 2013 found that young women experienced improvements in episodic memory and men had faster reaction times in working memory after supplementing with DHA for six months at a dose of 1.16 grams a day.

Effects of DHA on memory and other cognitive functions studied

To examine the effects of DHA supplementation on memory and other aspects of cognitive function in healthy young adults, investigators at Massey University, Auckland, NZ, recruited 228 nonsmoking adults aged 18 to 45 year for the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Volunteers were randomly assigned to receive DHA (1.16 g DHA per day) or placebo capsules for 6 months. The participants provided a fasting blood sample, demographic information and results from a computerized battery of cognitive assessments.  All assessments were repeated at 6 months on the 176 participants who completed the study. Comparisons between the DHA and placebo groups by showed a significant effect of DHA on increased episodic memory in women, faster reaction time in episodic memory for the whole group and a quicker reaction time for working memory in the whole group and in men.

DHA shown to improve memory and reaction time

“This study showed, for the first time to our knowledge, that DHA supplementation improved memory and RTs of memory in healthy young adults whose habitual diets was low in DHA,” wrote the researchers led by Welma Stonehouse of New Zealand’s Massey University . “These memory-related cognitive domains are the building blocks of more complex cognitive functions of behaviors that are common in everyday life. Thus young, healthy adults may cognitively benefit from an increased consumptions of DHA.”

 

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