Dietary Seafood and Cognitive Decline

Seafood intake has been linked to a variety of improvements in health. Additionally, there is some evidence linking seafood intake with slower cognitive decline in aging populations.

A recent study adds to this age-related cognitive benefit of seafood intake.

A collaborative group of researchers from Rush University Medical Center and the Wageningen University in the Netherlands conducted a prospective study.

This study followed 915 subjects with a mean age of 81.4 years over a five year period. Subjects completed dietary surveys and had tests of cognitive function.

Subjects were divided into two groups. Those with seafood intake at least once per week and those with less than once a weekend seafood intake. Seafood was classified as coming from any one of the following groups:

• Fish sticks
• Fish cakes or sandwiches
• Fresh fish as a main dish
• Shrimp, lobster and crab

Subjects eating fish at least once per week showed reduced rate of cognitive decline in two domains: semantic memory and perceptual speed.

This study adds some specific neuropsychological domains that might be open to improvement with seafood intake.

Read a summary of the study at ScienceDaily HERE.

Follow me on Twitter @WRY999 HERE.

Photo of smoked salmon meal I ate in Dublin, Ireland is from my private photo file.

van de Rest, O., Wang, Y., Barnes, L., Tangney, C., Bennett, D., & Morris, M. (2016). APOE  4 and the associations of seafood and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids with cognitive decline Neurology DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002719