Neuroelectric assessment of nutrient intake

Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and auditory event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were assessed in two groups (n = 12 each) of subjects. The 'food-nutrient' group had fasted from the night before and consumed a 500 cal nutrient drink; the 'control' group consumed breakfast but did not consume any nutrients during the recordings. All subjects were assessed every 15 min for six trial blocks at the same time of day, with the fast/nutrient group measured initially before and after consuming the nutrient drink. No effects of the nutrient drink were obtained on the post-stimulus EEG spectral power or mean frequency measures. However, the fast/nutrient group demonstrated less delta, theta, and alpha-1 power than the no-fast/control group. Increases in spectral power were generally observed across trial blocks especially for the alpha and beta bands, and are consistent with increases in arousal level. P300 amplitude was unaffected by the nutrient consumption, but target stimulus N100 amplitude was smaller for the food-nutrient compared to the control group. Taken together, the results suggest that nutrient consumption does not directly affect EEG or cognitive ERP measures.