PERSPECTIVES
Fishing for brain power?
1 Department of Dietetics, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK
2 Medical Research Council, Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Child Health, London, UK
Correspondence to:
C King, Department of Dietetics, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 OHS; caroline.king@imperial.nhs.uk
Accepted 26 March 2007
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are predominant in the central nervous system. Neuronal synapses and photoreceptors in the retina are particularly rich in DHA. These fatty acids are available preformed in the diet of omnivores and can be produced through the elongation and desaturation of their parent fatty acids linoleic acid (LA 18:2 n-6) and 
-linolenic acid (ALA 18:3 n-3), respectively. However, the ability of neonates to perform these interconversions in sufficient amounts, especially the conversion of ALA to DHA, has been questioned, since late fetal life and infancy are periods of maximal brain growth and demand for these fatty acids is high. This has led to several studies evaluating the effect of postnatal supplementation, both in neonates and older children, particularly with DHA. Despite numerous studies, including several fairly large randomised trials, LCPUFA supplementation of infant formula has not been proved
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