A study published in the May issue of Clinical Pediatrics indicates that higher DHA levels are associated with improved listening comprehension and vocabulary skills in pre-school children.

The study evaluated whether DHA supplementation had an effect on four tests of cognitive function. The research demonstrated that supplementation with 400mg of DHA per day significantly increased the amount of DHA in the children’s blood. While the researchers did not find any statistically significant differences in the scores between the placebo and treatment groups for any of the four tests, a preplanned regression analysis yielded a statistically significant positive association between a higher DHA level in the blood and higher scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III). PPVT-III is a cognitive test designed to measure listening comprehension and vocabulary skills, and performance in the test is an indicator of readiness for school.