Dietary long-chain fatty acids and cognitive performance in older Australian adults

The rapid increase in prevalence of age-related cognitive impairment is of global concern. Our aim was to examine associations between dietary long chain fatty acids and cognitive performance in older adults. Cross-sectional data from the Hunter Community Study, included a validated 145-item Food Frequency Questionnaire and validated cognitive performance measures (Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen (ARCS), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)). Participants included 2750 older Australian adults (55-86 years) with plausible energy intake (>4.5 but <20.0MJ/d). Linear regression models showed statistically significant associations between dietary intake of total n-6 fatty acids and improved cognitive performance measured by the ARCs (RC= 0.0043; P=0.0004; R²= 0.0084). Quartiles of n-6 fatty acid intakes where the lowest quartile of n-6 fatty acid intake (179.8-1150.3mg) and those in the highest quartile (2315.0-7449.4mg) had a total ARCs score 10.6 units greater (RC= 10.60466; P= 0.006; R²= 0.0081). Furthermore, when n-6 fatty acid intake was tested against each of the ARCs domains, statistically significant associations were observed for the Fluency (RC=0.0011432; P= 0.007; R²=0.0057), Visual (RC=0.0009889;P=0.034;R²=0.0050), Language (RC=0.0010651; P=0.047;R²=0.0068) and Attention (RC=0.0011605; P=0.017; R²=0.0099) domains, yet there was no association with Memory (RC= -0.000064; P= 0.889; R²= 0.0083). No statistically significant associations between any other fatty acids and ARCS, nor any fatty acids and MMSE were detected. A higher intake of total n-6 fatty acid, but no other types of fatty acids, was associated with better cognitive performance among a representative sample of older Australian adults.