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Related Experiment Videos

Memory processing and the glucose facilitation effect: the effects of stimulus difficulty and memory load.

Andrew Meikle1, Leigh M Riby, Brian Stollery

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, 8, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TN, UK.

Nutritional Neuroscience
|February 24, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Glucose intake enhances memory, particularly for difficult tasks requiring significant mental effort. This effect was observed in memory encoding and consolidation, supporting the cognitive demand hypothesis for glucose benefits.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuropharmacology

Background:

  • Previous studies indicate glucose consumption improves memory.
  • The cognitive demand hypothesis suggests glucose benefits tasks with higher mental effort.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the cognitive demand hypothesis regarding glucose and memory.
  • To determine if glucose facilitation is specific to memory tasks demanding greater mental effort.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments used an unrelated sample design with participants ingesting glucose or a control solution.
  • Experiment 1: Assessed memory for low/high imagery word-pairs at 1, 7, and 14 days.
  • Experiment 2: Manipulated mental effort by varying word list length and phonological similarity.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Glucose enhanced memory encoding and consolidation for low imagery (more difficult) word-pairs.
  • Memory enhancement was observed only for longer word lists in Experiment 2.
  • Glucose effects were specific to certain types of memory task difficulty.

Conclusions:

  • Glucose appears to be particularly effective for demanding memory tasks.
  • The benefits of glucose on memory are constrained by the specific nature of the cognitive challenge.