Effects of differences in postprandial glycaemia on cognitive functions in healthy middle-aged subjects

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 113 - 120
• Main Authors: Nilsson, A, Radeborg, K, Bjorck, I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.01.2009; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Aged; Attention - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; blood glucose; Blood Glucose - metabolism; breakfast; carbohydrate metabolism; Clinical Nutrition; cognition; Cognition - drug effects; Cognitive ability; cognitive performance; Epidemiology; Evaluation; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glucose; Glucose - pharmacology; glucose response; glucose tolerance; Glucose Tolerance Test; Glucose tolerance tests; Glycemic index; Glycemic Index - physiology; Health aspects; Health Sciences; Humans; Hälsovetenskap; Internal Medicine; Male; Meals; Medical and Health Sciences; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Memory; Memory - drug effects; Metabolic Diseases; Metabolism; Methods; Middle age; Middle Aged; Middle aged persons; middle-aged adults; Nutrition and Dietetics; nutrition physiology; Nutrition research; Näringslära; original-article; Postprandial Period - physiology; postprandial state; Prevention; Psychological aspects; Public Health; selective attention; Short-term memory; Task analysis; test meals; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; working memory; United Kingdom; glucose response; breakfast; cognitive performance; glucose tolerance; working memory; selective attention; Performance evaluation; Breakfast; Middle age; Healthy subject; Postprandial; Memory; Tolerance; Metabolic diseases; Cognition; Glucose; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602900

Objective: To find useful methods for the studies of cognitive function during a postprandial period, and to use these methods to evaluate function after test meals differing in post meal glycaemia. Subjects/Methods: Forty healthy volunteers aged 49-70 years were studied. A glucose solution (glucose 50 g) was provided through either a bolus or sipping regimen at breakfast to simulate a high-GI or a low-GI breakfast, respectively. Cognitive tests of working memory (WM) were performed at 35, 90, 120 and 150 min after commencing the breakfast, and a test of selective attention (SA) was performed at 170 min. Results: Subjects with higher glucose tolerance performed better in the cognitive tests (P<0.05). After entering glucose tolerance as covariate, the subjects performed better in the working memory test at 90 min (P<0.034) and in the selective attention test at 170 min (P<0.017) after the simulated low-glycaemic index (GI) breakfast compared with the simulated high-GI breakfast. Conclusion: Possibly, the cognitive functions tested were enhanced by avoiding a sharp decline in blood glucose concentration and by maintaining a higher glycaemia in the late postprandial period, respectively. A low-GI diet is preferable in the prevention of the risk of cognitive decline as a result of less efficient glucose regulation.