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I. INTRODUCTION AND AIMS OF THE STUDY
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1971.tb02176.x
Subject(s) - citation , computer science , psychology , information retrieval , library science
Second to the adipose tissue, brain is the most lipid concentrated organ in the body. More concretely, brain is very rich in two long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LcPUFA), arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4n-6) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), derivatives of linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6) and α-linolenic acid (LNA, 18:3n-3), respectively. All of them play vital roles in the organism but, only LA and LNA are considered as essential since they cannot be synthesized, being the diet the only source. However, the synthesis rate of AA and DHA from their parent fatty acids is too slow to cover body requirements, especially in stages with high lipid metabolism like development, and is for this reason why the two fatty acids must be present in the diet as well. Hence, an appropriated dietary lipid composition is important first, for a proper development and later on, for the maintenance of the organism functions.