Recent reviews in this journal have recently focused
attention on the role of unsaturated fatty acids (especially
omega-3 fatty acids) in the brain at various age and during
aging (1) and, more specifically, the importance of dietary
omega-3 fatty acids in psychiatry (2). The first element of the
omega-3 fatty acids (figure 1) is the essential fatty acid alphalinolenic
acid (ALA, 18:3(n-3), 18:3ω3, 18:3 omega-3); other
members of this family are derivatives of ALA with longer,