Student brain power study wins state science fair

Two brothers recently won the Larry Fauque Grand Award at the Montana State Science Fair and they have a lot of people to thank — namely the 30-some students at Columbia Falls High School who gave a little blood for the project.

Freshman Colin Norick and his brother Colter, a junior, examined docosahexaenic acid levels in fellow classmates, ages 14 to 18.

DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary component in the human brain. Americans in general are deficient in DHA, the brothers explained, because we eat too much corn and other grains, and not enough natural sources of DHA.

“We don’t eat enough fish, grass-fed beef and leafy greens,” Colter explained.

While most high school kids are deficient in DHA, supplements derived from salmon could address the deficiency, the Noricks hypothesized.

The brothers set up an experiment to test their theory. First, each subject student agreed to provide a pin-prick’s worth of a blood, gathered by the high school nurse. The samples were then sent to a lab at Montana State University for DHA analysis. The samples showed that the students, were, in fact, low in DHA.

At the same time, the subject students took standardized cognitive tests that measured working memory and reaction times. Then for the next two months, one-third took a standard DHA supplement, another third took double the standard dose, and the rest took a placebo.

DHA levels were measured again, and subject students re-took the standardized cognitive tests. Those given the regular supplement showed marked improvement on the tests, and those given the placebo did not.

But what really interested the brothers was the group given double the supplements. While they showed improvement, they didn’t do any better than those on a regular dosage.

For their efforts, the Noricks will receive an expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles, Calif. later this spring to attend the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The brothers hope to do well there because the cash prizes can be significant — in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Aside from the students, the Noricks had plenty of help along the way — MSU conducted all the blood laboratory work, and supplement manufacturer Nordic Naturals donated the supplements and look-alike placebo pills.

The brothers plan to pursue careers in science after high school. Colin wants to study cyber security and nuclear physics, and Colter plans on studying biological computations — the science of taking real world biological functions and translating them to digital data.

As for DHA, the Noricks say Popeye was right — eating spinach is good for you.

“But it makes you mentally stronger,” Colin noted.