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Sugar boosts memory in older adults

Source:Ringier Food Release Date:2018-07-19 96
Food & Beverage
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Glucose, compared to artificial sweetener, enhances the memory of older adults, motivates them to work harder and puts them in a good mood even when doing difficult tasks, says a University of Warwick study.  

A STUDY comparing the effects of sugar and artificial sweetener on a set of young and older adults yields interesting results. In older adults, sugar boosted the memory and motivation to perform difficult tasks at full capacity, and also put them in a good mood while doing these tasks. Not the same could be said for the young adults.

Young (aged 18-27) and older (aged 65-82) adults were given a drink with a small amount of glucose, and then made to perform memory tasks. Other participants were given a placebo – a drink containing artificial sweetener.

The results were based on the participants’ levels of engagement with the task, memory scores, mood, and their own perception of effort. They suggest that increasing energy through a glucose drink can help both young and older adults to try harder compared to those who had the artificial sweetener. However, the sugared beverage did not improve the mood or the memory performance of the young adults, as it did so in older adults.

Furthermore, older adults who had a glucose drink showed significantly better memory and more positive mood compared to older adults who consumed the artificial sweetener. Although objective measures of task engagement showed that older adults in the glucose group put more effort into the task than those who consumed the artificial sweetener, their own self-reports showed that they did not feel as if they had tried any harder.

The conclusion is that short-term energy availability in the form of raised blood sugar levels could be an important factor in older adults’ motivation to perform a task at their highest capacity.

Heightened motivation, in turn, could explain the fact that increased blood sugar levels also increase older adults’ sense of self-confidence, decrease self-perceptions of effort, and improve mood. However, more research is needed to disentangle these factors in order to fully understand how energy availability affects cognitive engagement, and to develop clear dietary guidelines for older adults.

PhD student Konstantinos Mantantzis, lead author (Credit: University of Warwick)

This research was conducted by PhD student Konstantinos Mantantzis, Professor Elizabeth Maylor and Dr Friederike Schlaghecken in University of Warwick’s Department of Psychology.

Mr Mantantzis, a PhD student from the University of Warwick’s Department of Psychology, commented: “Over the years, studies have shown that actively engaging with difficult cognitive tasks is a prerequisite for the maintenance of cognitive health in older age. Therefore, the implications of uncovering the mechanisms that determine older adults’ levels of engagement cannot be understated.”

Dr Friederike Schlaghecken, from the University of Warwick’s Department of Psychology, commented: “Our results bring us a step closer to understanding what motivates older adults to exert effort and finding ways of increasing their willingness to try hard even if a task seems impossible to perform.”  The paper, ‘Gain Without Pain: Glucose Promotes Cognitive Engagement and Protects Positive Affect in Older Adults’, is in press in Psychology and Aging.

Source: University of Warwick

 

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