Abstract
Arachidonic acid is an essential fatty acid, and is one of the major fatty acids in the brain, as well as docosahexaenoic acid. Arachidonic acid is contained in breast milk, and is important for the infant nutrition to be used for the infant formula. Arachidonic acid-supplementation improved the age-related impairment of learning performance in rats, and then was revealed to improve the cognitive function (event-related potentials) and the learning behavior in a neuropsychological assessment in aged humans. The related mechanisms are going to be found out, such as the preservation of hippocampal neuron membrane fluidity and the enhancement of the postnatal neurogenesis. The nutritional importance is also beginning to be clarified. Further studies are expected to reveal the importance of arachidonic acid-supplementation.
