Dementia Research

Nutr Neurosci. 2008 Apr;11(2):75-83. doi: 10.1179/147683008X301450.

Cognitive findings of an exploratory trial of docosahexaenoic acid and lutein supplementation in older women.
Johnson EJ1, McDonald K, Caldarella SM, Chung HY, Troen AM, Snodderly DM.Author information

• 1Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA. elizabeth.johnson@tufts.edu

Low dietary intake of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and/or foods or supplements containing lutein may be associated with increased risk of cognitive decline in the elderly.

In this 4- month, double-blind trial, administered on 49 women aged 60-80, supplementation using 800 mg/day DHA omega 3 essential fatty acids and 12 mg/day lutein carotenoids were found to improve memory scores and rates of learning. Measures of mental processing speed, accuracy and mood were not affected by supplementation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18510807