A long‐term fatty fish intervention improved executive function in inpatients with antisocial traits and a history of alcohol and drug abuse |
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| Authors: | Anita L. Hansen Lisbeth Dahl Gina Olson David Thornton Bjørn Grung Julian F. Thayer |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;2. Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway;3. National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), Bergen, Norway;4. Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center (SRSTC), Mauston, WI, USA;5. Department of Chemistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;6. Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA;7. Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany |
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| Abstract: | The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of fatty fish consumption on cognitive functioning in a group of inpatients characterized by antisocial behavior. Eighty‐three male forensic inpatients participated in this study. Participants were randomly assigned into a Fish or a Control group (e.g., meat, chicken, pork). One decision‐making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and one planning task, the Tower of Hanoi (ToH), were administered before (pre‐test) and at the end of the intervention period (post‐test). For the IGT the Fish group showed improved performance from pre‐ to post‐ test. Moreover, the Fish group showed significantly better performance than the Control group on the IGT at post‐test. The Fish group also demonstrated improved performance from pre‐ to post‐test on the ToH; however, this was limited to participants with a history of substance abuse. Further, the improvement was only significant for tasks with high working memory load (5–7 move problems), and not for tasks with low working memory load (1–4 move problems). The Control group showed no improvement on any of the tasks regardless of alcohol or drug abuse history. The present study suggests that regular fatty fish consumption may improve executive functions in forensic inpatients with antisocial traits and a history of substance abuse. Thus, the current results may have important implications with regard to health care interventions. |
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| Keywords: | Antisocial behavior alcohol/drug abuse fatty fish consumption executive function |
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