Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development
The aim of this article is to draw attention to the special significance of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the brain, the potential relevance of its abundance to the evolution of the brain in past history, and now the relevance of paucity in the food supply to the rise in mental ill-health. Membrane...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.
2014
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| Online Access: | https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/851/1/Military%20Medicine.pdf |
| _version_ | 1804071593029140480 |
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| author | Crawford, Michael A. Broadhurst, C. Leigh Cunnane, Stephen Marsh, David E. Schmidt, Walter F. Brand, Annette Ghebremeskel, Kebreab |
| author_facet | Crawford, Michael A. Broadhurst, C. Leigh Cunnane, Stephen Marsh, David E. Schmidt, Walter F. Brand, Annette Ghebremeskel, Kebreab |
| author_sort | Crawford, Michael A. |
| collection | LMU |
| description | The aim of this article is to draw attention to the special significance of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the brain, the potential relevance of its abundance to the evolution of the brain in past history, and now the relevance of paucity in the food supply to the rise in mental ill-health. Membrane lipids of photoreceptors, synapses, and neurons over the last 600 million years contained consistent and similarly high levels of DHA despite wide genomic change. The consistency is despite the DHA precursor differing only by 2 protons. This striking conservation is an example of Darwin’s “Conditions of Existence,” which he described as the higher force in evolution. A purpose of this article is to suggest that the present paradigm of food production currently based on protein requirements, should change to serve the specific lipid needs of the brain to address the rise in mental ill-health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-07-09T03:45:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:repository.londonmet.ac.uk:851 |
| institution | London Metropolitan University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-07-09T03:45:43Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S. |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | oai:repository.londonmet.ac.uk:8512020-06-22T15:43:14Z http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/851/ Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development Crawford, Michael A. Broadhurst, C. Leigh Cunnane, Stephen Marsh, David E. Schmidt, Walter F. Brand, Annette Ghebremeskel, Kebreab 570 Life sciences; biology The aim of this article is to draw attention to the special significance of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the brain, the potential relevance of its abundance to the evolution of the brain in past history, and now the relevance of paucity in the food supply to the rise in mental ill-health. Membrane lipids of photoreceptors, synapses, and neurons over the last 600 million years contained consistent and similarly high levels of DHA despite wide genomic change. The consistency is despite the DHA precursor differing only by 2 protons. This striking conservation is an example of Darwin’s “Conditions of Existence,” which he described as the higher force in evolution. A purpose of this article is to suggest that the present paradigm of food production currently based on protein requirements, should change to serve the specific lipid needs of the brain to address the rise in mental ill-health. Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S. 2014-11 Article PeerReviewed text en https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/851/1/Military%20Medicine.pdf Crawford, Michael A., Broadhurst, C. Leigh, Cunnane, Stephen, Marsh, David E., Schmidt, Walter F., Brand, Annette and Ghebremeskel, Kebreab (2014) Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development. Military medicine, 179 (11). pp. 61-75. ISSN 0026-4075 10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00246; PMID:25373088 |
| spellingShingle | 570 Life sciences; biology Crawford, Michael A. Broadhurst, C. Leigh Cunnane, Stephen Marsh, David E. Schmidt, Walter F. Brand, Annette Ghebremeskel, Kebreab Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development |
| title | Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development |
| title_full | Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development |
| title_fullStr | Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development |
| title_short | Nutritional armor in evolution: Docosahexaenoic Acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development |
| title_sort | nutritional armor in evolution docosahexaenoic acid as a determinant of neural evolution and hominid brain development |
| topic | 570 Life sciences; biology |
| url | https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/851/1/Military%20Medicine.pdf |
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