![]() A great breakthrough of psychiatry in the early 20th century was Freud's idea that the unconscious pairing of symbols to traumatic memories or disturbing emotional states can result in substantial disruptions in the formation of personality and in mental ill health. Associative pairing can be conscious or unconscious. In humans, symbols of cocaine use, such as drug paraphernalia, can become so powerfully paired to the psychotropic effects of the drug that when addicts are presented with these symbols alone, the same brain regions involved in maintaining rewarding properties and compulsive use become metabolically active. Induction of an emotional state by the psychoactive properties of a substance can also drive the associative pairing of emotional states and visual stimuli. Pavlov demonstrated that even a meaningless stimulus, such as the sound of a bell, can become linked to apparent emotion of hunger in a dog, and sympathetic nervous system activation, through simple conditioned response, even though the association is not necessarily consciously perceived. The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying of pairing visual stimuli to emotions have been well established in operant conditioning. While more clinical and basic science work need to be conducted to refine dosages ratios, specific population response, mechanisms and critical time points in development, give current data we conclude that, due to its abundance of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, fish is food with the psychotropic properties of reducing depression and aggression.īecause seafood is a uniquely rich source of these psychoactive molecules, we posit that that, over the course of human history, symbols of fish and seafood have become associated with the emotional states induced by long-chain omega-3s. Residual neuropsychiatric risks to children due to insufficient seafood intake during pregnancy has been reported in a prospective study of 14,500 mother and infant pairs. ![]() Dosages in this range are consistent with dose response modeling data from cross-national ecological studies, which indicate that there may be a 30 to 65-fold greater risk of major depression, postpartum depression, bipolar depression and homicide in countries with little seafood consumption, ,, compared to countries with the richest in dietary seafood. However, doses of 2 g/d of preparations containing both EPA and DHA, with EPA being more abundant, appear to be effective in diets with background LA between 2% and 10%. There is insufficient data from clinical intervention trials to determine with precision the optimal doses and ratios of EPA and DHA in treating and preventing depression, aggression and other psychiatric disorders. Several of the studies that failed to show effect used either DHA alone or preparations in which the ratio of DHA to EPA was greater than 1. This conclusion was based in part on a meta-analysis of 10 randomized placebo controlled trials for major depression and affective disorders reporting an effect size of 1.53 over placebo. The American Psychiatric Association is now issuing treatment recommendations for a minimum of 1 g/d of omega-3 fatty acids in psychiatric disorders. Deficiencies in EPA and DHA were considered to increase risk of depression or aggression. For example, the same relative tissue composition of long-chain omega-3's for this target are reached by the following representative diets: Philippines 275 mg/d (LA 0.8 en%), United Kingdom 1600 mg/d (LA 4.0%), USA 3600 mg/d (LA 9.0%). In order to meet criteria consistent with a Recommended Dietary Allowance sufficient to prevent 98% of the population from increased risk of psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular disease, dosages of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids must be considered in the context of background omega-6 fatty acids, particularly linoleic acid (LA) in the diet. Since publication of our 1995 hypothesis, a consistent body of data from epidemiological, observational and interventional studies has indicated that deficiencies in omega-3 fatty acids markedly increase risk of major psychiatric illnesses such as depression and violence, and also increase propensities towards neuroticism, disagreeableness, and vulnerability to stress and hostility among “non-ill” populations. ![]() Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids including DHA and eicosapentenoic acid (EPA) are rich in seafood, which is the predominant source in most diets. Optimal function of the central nervous system is dependent upon dietary sources of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which cannot be made de novo by mammals. We hypothesize that the symbolism of fish in traditional medical practices and religion has emerged due to the psychotropic properties of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in moderating aggressive, impulsive, and violent behavior.
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