Polyunsaturated Fats and Learning

Abstract

When I was first approached to contribute a chapter to this volume I was reluctant to do so, because I am not an “expert” in the field of fatty acids research. Instead, most of my professional career has been devoted to studying the role that various brain neurotransmitters play in regulating food intake and body weight homeostasis. Indeed, it was because of such interests that I was originally drawn into the types of research that have given rise to this chapter. To make matters worse, I have just been offered a new position at my current institution, which I knew would place high demands on my time. Furthermore, the research findings I was prepared to discuss consisted of data that had been collected almost 10 yr ago. Therefore, the experimental concepts they represented might be outdated in comparison to other chapters in this book. Finally, the nature of these findings ran contrary to the original work which gave rise to these studies, and thus does not paint a neat, pretty picture.