Glucose administration, heart rate and cognitive performance: effects of increasing mental effort

被引:196
作者
Kennedy, DO [1 ]
Scholey, AB [1 ]
机构
[1] Northumbria Univ, Div Psychol, Human Cognit Neurosci Unit, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 8ST, Tyne & Wear, England
关键词
glucose; cognition; demand; heart rate; mental effort;
D O I
10.1007/s002139900335
中图分类号
Q189 [神经科学];
学科分类号
071006 ;
摘要
Rationale: It is known that glucose administration is capable of improving performance on tests of declarative verbal memory and non-mnemonic tasks requiring high "mental effort". At the same time, cognitively demanding tasks are associated with elevated heart rate, a response that could feasibly be part of a physiological mechanism serving to increase the delivery of glucose to active brain substrates. Objective: The present placebo-controlled, double-blind, balanced, crossover study examined the interaction between glucose administration, cognitive performance and heart rate during three tasks of differing mental demand and somatically-matched control tasks. Methods: The effects of a glucose drink on participants' performance on two serial subtraction tasks (Serial Threes and Serial Sevens) and a Word Retrieval (Verbal Fluency) task were assessed. Heart rates were monitored throughout the experiment, and participants rated each task in terms of its perceived mental demand. Results: Serial Sevens was rated as the most mentally demanding task, followed by Word Retrieval, then Serial Threes. Glucose consumption significantly improved performance on Serial Sevens, with a trend for improved performance on Word Retrieval. Both Serial Sevens and Serial Threes were associated with significant heart rate elevation above that seen in somatically matched control tasks (ruling out the possibility that accelerated heart rate was due to peripheral mechanisms alone). Unexpectedly, participants in the glucose condition had higher heart rates during cognitive processing. Additionally, individuals whose baseline heart rates were below the median performed better on Serial Threes and Serial Sevens. Conclusion: We suggest that supplemental glucose preferentially targets tasks with a relatively high cognitive load, which itself (through unknown mechanisms) mobilises physiological reserves as part of a natural response to such tasks. Furthermore, baseline heart rate and responses to cognitive demand and glucose administration may represent important physiological individual differences.
引用
收藏
页码:63 / 71
页数:9
相关论文
共 46 条
[1]   METABOLIC AND CARDIORESPIRATORY MEASURES OF MENTAL EFFORT - THE EFFECTS OF LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY IN A WORKING-MEMORY TASK [J].
BACKS, RW ;
SELJOS, KA .
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 1994, 16 (01) :57-68
[2]  
BACKS RW, 1992, PROCEEDINGS OF THE HUMAN FACTORS SOCIETY, 36TH ANNUAL MEETING, VOLS 1 AND 2, P1413
[3]   Breakfast, blood glucose, and cognition [J].
Benton, D ;
Parker, PY .
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NUTRITION, 1998, 67 (04) :772S-778S
[4]   IS RAISED BLOOD-GLUCOSE ASSOCIATED WITH THE RELIEF OF TENSION [J].
BENTON, D ;
OWENS, D .
JOURNAL OF PSYCHOSOMATIC RESEARCH, 1993, 37 (07) :723-735
[5]   THE IMPACT OF INCREASING BLOOD-GLUCOSE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING [J].
BENTON, D .
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY, 1990, 30 (01) :13-19
[6]   BLOOD-GLUCOSE INFLUENCES MEMORY AND ATTENTION IN YOUNG-ADULTS [J].
BENTON, D ;
OWENS, DS ;
PARKER, PY .
NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA, 1994, 32 (05) :595-607
[7]   BETA-ADRENERGIC ACTIVATION AND MEMORY FOR EMOTIONAL EVENTS [J].
CAHILL, L ;
PRINS, B ;
WEBER, M ;
MCGAUGH, JL .
NATURE, 1994, 371 (6499) :702-704
[8]   THE EFFECTS OF LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY OF MENTAL ARITHMETIC CHALLENGE ON HEART-RATE AND OXYGEN-CONSUMPTION [J].
CARROLL, D ;
TURNER, JR ;
PRASAD, R .
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 1986, 4 (03) :167-173
[9]  
CRAFT S, 1994, PSYCHOBIOLOGY, V22, P95
[10]   MODEST DECREMENTS IN PLASMA-GLUCOSE CONCENTRATION CAUSE EARLY IMPAIRMENT IN COGNITIVE FUNCTION AND LATER ACTIVATION OF GLUCOSE COUNTERREGULATION IN THE ABSENCE OF HYPOGLYCEMIC SYMPTOMS IN NORMAL MAN [J].
DEFEO, P ;
GALLAI, V ;
MAZZOTTA, G ;
CRISPINO, G ;
TORLONE, E ;
PERRIELLO, G ;
VENTURA, MM ;
SANTEUSANIO, F ;
BRUNETTI, P ;
BOLLI, GB .
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION, 1988, 82 (02) :436-444