Colin and Colter Norick, two ambitious brothers from Columbia Falls, have gained international recognition with their science project, “The Correlation between Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Levels and Cognitive Function in Healthy Teens.”

In May, the pair were recognized on stage — in front of 3,500 people at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles — with a third-place award from the American Psychological Association.

This was a life-changing experience, according to Colin.

“Most students competing don’t get that opportunity,” Colin said. “We competed in the biochemistry category against cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s research, so in retrospect, we feel like we would have fared better in behavioral and social sciences.”

Competition was intense: Theirs was one of 1,783 projects.

“The competition was very difficult,” Colin said. “I was very impressed with the quality of the research projects from other countries.”

With 70 countries represented, it was a chance to make new and even international friends.

“I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet people from all over the world,” Colter said. “I made new friends from Florida to New York and even Russia.”

This is the same project that had the highest score at a Montana Tech Regional Science Fair in March, which qualified them to compete internationally on an all-expenses paid trip.

Prior to that, the Columbia Falls High School students showed their work at the Montana State Science Fair at the University of Montana. There they won five top awards and a gold ribbon.

The Noricks developed their project after learning about the importance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids from Edward Dratz, a Montana State University chemistry and biochemistry professor, in a program organized by the university called BioScience Montana.

BioScience Montana is an intensive, eight-month experience through which 4-H members from around the state conduct scientific research, learn about bioscience-related careers and collaborate via distance-learning technologies on topics such as neuroscience, infectious diseases and metabolomics.

The brothers decided to research the effectiveness of docosahexaenoic acid — an omega-3 fatty acid believed to improve brain function — over six months.

With access to the university laboratory and permission from the university’s Institutional Research Board, the brothers recruited classmates as test subjects.

Test subjects either received standard doses or doubled doses of omega-3, or placebos. A Columbia Falls High School nurse drew the blood samples to be tested in the laboratory.

The pair then worked with a Missoula neurologist who did computer tests on subjects’ cognitive function and reaction times according to a press release.

The Noricks had accumulated two months’ worth of data by the time they entered the science fairs. Preliminary data showed that in two months, subjects taking omega-3 showed improved cognitive function. Subjects who took doubled doses, however, did not show better results than those who took the standard dose.

Dratz said the Noricks had a number of original approaches to their project, according to a press release.

“Many studies have been done on DHA and brain function, but most previous work was on infants or elderly people,” Dratz said in the release. “There is very little of this kind of work on young people with no health complaints.”

Dratz said that as far as he knows the Noricks are the first researchers to use two different dose levels in the same experiment and factor in body mass index.

“We are continuing our research. We have not yet finished analyzing our latest blood results, but once those get in, we will have more conclusive results,” Colin said. “We hope to publish the study in a scientific journal and will be working on that this summer.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.