Dr Jerry Katzman MD - A benefit of ω−3 fatty acids

2007-12-10T00:47:00.000-08:00

Dr Jerry Katzman MD - A benefit of Omega 3 fatty acids

A benefit of ω−3 fatty acids is helping the brain to repair damage by promoting neuronal growth. In a six-month study involving people with schizophrenia and Huntington's disease who were treated with EPA or a placebo, the placebo group had clearly lost cerebral tissue, while the patients given the supplements had a significant increase of grey and white matter.

In the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the brain, low brain ω−3 fatty acids are thought to lower the dopaminergic neurotransmission in this brain area, possibly contributing to the negative and neurocognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. This reduction in dopamine system function in the PFC may lead to an overactivity in dopaminergic function in the limbic system of the brain which is suppressively controlled by the PFC dopamine system, causing the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. This is called the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid/dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia (Ohara, 2007). This mechanism may explain why ω−3 supplementation shows effects against both positive, negative and neurocognitive symptoms in schizophrenia.

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