Direct and indirect effects of blood levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids on reading and writing (dis)abilities

In this study by Borasio et al. (2022), the authors examined the links between neuropsychological reading and writing performance and serum polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels, in a population of 30 students (mean age = 10.83 ± 1.43 years). Before the beginning of the experiment, the participants were assessed for reading skills and a myriad of visual and auditory neuropsychological functions pertaining to reading and writing performance. Analysis of the results revealed the existence of a moderate to strong direct, positive relationship between reading and writing abilities and PUFA levels, and with PUFA levels and neuropsychological scores. In addition, PUFAs were found to indirectly enhance the accuracy scores of visual-spatial cueing when comparing the right and left visual fields as part of writing accuracy assessment. The authors comment that their results demonstrate the role of visual-spatial attention in the process of reading and writing, highlighting that visual low-level processes may be responding favorably to increased serum omega-3 PUFAs. [NPID: PUFA, cueing task, dyslexia, flanker effect, phonological processing, reading, visual processing, visual spatial attention, writing]

Year: 2022

Reference: Borasio, F., Syren, M. L., Turolo, S., Agostoni, C., Molteni, M., Antonietti, A., & Lorusso, M. L. (2022). Direct and Indirect Effects of Blood Levels of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids on Reading and Writing (Dis)Abilities. Brain sciences, 12(2), 169. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12020169