Unversitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 Nov;32(11):2187-2195. doi: 10.1007/s00787-022-02064-w. Epub 2022 Aug 12.
Omega-3 fatty acids are critical for brain function. Adolescence is increasingly believed to entail brain vulnerability to dietary intake. In contrast to the abundant research on the omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in cognition, research on DHA and attention in healthy adolescents is scarce. In addition, the role of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the vegetable omega-3 fatty acid, is unexplored. We examined associations between DHA and ALA and attention function among a healthy young population. In this cross-sectional study conducted in 372 adolescents (13.8 ± 0.9 years-old), we determined the red blood cell proportions of DHA and ALA by gas chromatography (objective biomarkers of their long-term dietary intake) and measured attention scores through the Attention Network Test. We constructed multivariable linear regression models to analyze associations, controlling for known confounders. Compared to participants at the lowest DHA tertile (reference), those at the highest DHA tertile showed significantly lower hit reaction time-standard error (higher attentiveness) (28.13 ms, 95% confidence interval [CI] = - 52.30; - 3.97), lower hit reaction time ( - 38.30 ms, 95% CI = - 73.28; - 3.33) and lower executive conflict response ( - 5.77 ms, 95% CI = - 11.44; - 0.09). In contrast, higher values were observed in those at the top tertile of ALA in hit reaction time compared to the lowest one (46.14 ms, 95% CI = 9.90; 82.34). However, a beneficial association was observed for ALA, with decreasing impulsivity index across tertiles. Overall, our results suggest that DHA (reflecting its dietary intake) is associated with attention performance in typically developing adolescents. The role of dietary ALA in attention is less clear, although higher blood levels of ALA appear to result in lower impulsivity. Future intervention studies are needed to determine the causality of these associations and to better shape dietary recommendations for brain health during the adolescence period.
ω-3 脂肪酸对大脑功能至关重要。人们越来越相信，青春期的大脑容易受到饮食摄入的影响。与大量关于 ω-3 二十二碳六烯酸 (DHA) 对认知影响的研究相比，关于健康青少年 DHA 和注意力的研究则很少。此外，植物性 ω-3 脂肪酸 α-亚麻酸 (ALA) 的作用也尚未得到探索。我们研究了健康年轻人群中 DHA 和 ALA 与注意力功能之间的关系。在这项横断面研究中，我们对 372 名青少年（13.8±0.9 岁）进行了研究，通过气相色谱法测定了红细胞中 DHA 和 ALA 的比例（其长期饮食摄入的客观生物标志物），并通过注意力网络测试测量了注意力分数。我们构建了多变量线性回归模型来分析关联，同时控制了已知的混杂因素。与处于 DHA 最低三分位组（参照组）的参与者相比，处于 DHA 最高三分位组的参与者的击中反应时标准差更小（注意力更高）（28.13ms，95%置信区间 [CI] = - 52.30； - 3.97），击中反应时更短（ - 38.30ms，95% CI = - 73.28； - 3.33），执行冲突反应更低（ - 5.77ms，95% CI = - 11.44； - 0.09）。相比之下，ALA 最高三分位组的击中反应时明显高于最低三分位组（46.14ms，95% CI = 9.90；82.34）。然而，ALA 与冲动指数呈负相关，随着三分位组的降低，冲动指数也随之降低。总的来说，我们的结果表明，在典型的发育中的青少年中，DHA（反映其饮食摄入）与注意力表现有关。ALA 在注意力中的作用尚不清楚，尽管血液中 ALA 水平升高似乎会降低冲动性。未来需要进行干预研究来确定这些关联的因果关系，并更好地为青春期的大脑健康制定饮食建议。
