Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Adolescents: Unveiling Cognition Links

Catalonia cohort data show that a red blood cell (RBC) omega‑3 fatty acid profile is positively associated with fluid intelligence and with domain‑specific differences in risky decision‑making among adolescents.

Methodologically, this pooled cross‑sectional analysis combined adolescents from two Catalonia cohorts and used principal component analysis on 22 RBC membrane fatty acids to identify an omega‑3–dominated component. The team linked that component to cognitive outcomes using multivariable linear regression; the identified RBC omega-3 pattern correlated with higher standardized fluid intelligence scores.

The associations were domain‑specific: the omega‑3 pattern related positively and significantly to fluid intelligence and to the loss domain of risky decision‑making, while working memory showed no association. Because the analysis is cross‑sectional and no discrete numeric biomarker thresholds were reported, findings should be interpreted as pattern‑level associations rather than evidence of causation or clinical cutpoints.

In practice, RBC fatty acids serve as objective, medium‑term nutritional biomarkers that reflect intake and metabolism; they can complement dietary history and behavioral assessment in adolescents. Where RBC fatty acid panels are available, measurements can inform dietary counseling and monitoring, without implying that a single test confers direct clinical benefit.