A total of 1,315 women (65 to 80 years old) free of dementia were enrolled in the observational study between 1996-1999, and underwent structural brain MRI in 2005-2006. Then, based on prospectively collected and geocoded participant addresses, the research team used a spatiotemporal model to estimate the three-year average air pollution exposure before the MRI. They then looked at the relationship between pollution exposure and the size of different sections of the brain.
The finding: The more pollution the women were exposed to, the greater the shrinkage of the brain. "But the important finding was that a high Omega-3 Index markedly blunted this correlation whereas it was quite strong among those with a low Omega-3 Index," OmegaQuant reported, adding that women with higher Omega-3 Index levels had significantly greater volumes of white matter and hippocampus.
Dr. Harris said the research shows the protective benefits of omega-3s against air pollution and subsequently brain aging. More importantly, according to Dr. Harris: It underlines the benefits based on an omega-3 blood level, lending yet another layer of substantiation for theOmega-3 Indexin maintaining brain health.
