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Omega-3 fatty acids (fish-oil) and depression-related cognition in healthy volunteers

Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands nantypa{at}fsw.leidenuniv.nl

AJW Van der Does

Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

AHM Smelt

Department of General Internal Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

RD Rogers

Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Abstract

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) supplementation may be beneficial in the treatment of several psychiatric disorders, including depression. A small number of studies have suggested that there may also be cognitive and mood effects in healthy samples. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of n-3 PUFA on depression-relevant cognitive functioning in healthy individuals. Fifty-four healthy university students were randomized to receive either n-3 PUFA supplements or placebo for 4 weeks in a double-blind design. The test battery included measures of cognitive reactivity, attention, response inhibition, facial emotion recognition, memory and risky decision-making. Results showed few effects of n-3 PUFAs on cognition and mood states. The n-3 PUFA group made fewer risk-averse decisions than the placebo group. This difference appeared only in non-normative trials of the decision-making test, and was not accompanied by increased impulsiveness. N-3 PUFAs improved scores on the control/perfectionism scale of the cognitive reactivity measure. No effects were found on the other cognitive tasks and no consistent effects on mood were observed. The present findings indicate that n-3 PUFA supplementation may have a selective effect on risky decision making in healthy volunteers, which is unrelated to impulsiveness.

Key Words: cognition • decision-making • depression • mood • omega-3 fatty acids

This version was published on September 1, 2009

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 23, No. 7, 831-840 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881108092120


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