Curcumin boosts DHA in the brain: Implications for the prevention of anxiety disorders

Since docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is essential for brain development and protection, and its deficiency is linked to the neuropathology of cognitive disorders such as anxiety, Wu et al. (2015) set out to analyze the interaction between DHA and curcumin (believed to complement the actions of DHA in the brain). Curcumin was observed to enhance the synthesis of DHA from its precursor (ALA) and elevate the concentration of enzymes involved in the synthesis of DHA in both liver and brain tissue. An in vivo experiment conducted on rodents reduced anxiety-like behavior, implying that curcumin increases DHA synthesis and thereby causes a rise in DHA levels in the brain. The research team believe these findings have important implications for human health and the prevention of cognitive disease — particularly for populations eating a plant-based diet or for those who do not consume fish, a primary source of DHA, since DHA is essential for brain function and its deficiency is implicated in many types of neurological disorders. [NPID: DHA, herbs, development, cognition, anxiety, curcumin, anxiety, vegan, plant-based, neurological]

Year: 2015

Reference: Wu, A., Noble, E. E., Tyagi, E., Ying, Z., Zhuang, Y., & Gomez-Pinilla, F. (2015). Curcumin boosts DHA in the brain: Implications for the prevention of anxiety disorders. Biochimica et biophysica acta, 1852(5), 951–961. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2014.12.005