Cognitive effects following acute wild blueberry supplementation in 7- to 10-year-old children
Adrian R Whyte1, Graham Schafer1, Claire M Williams2
1School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK.
Insights
Blueberry consumption improved cognitive function in children aged 7-10 years. The study found dose-dependent effects, with higher doses of wild blueberry (WBB) leading to better results in memory and attention tasks.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Neuroscience
- Child Psychology
- Cognitive Enhancement
Background:
- Anthocyanin-rich blueberry treatments demonstrate cognitive benefits in adults and animals.
- Limited research exists on blueberry's cognitive effects in children.
- Investigating cognitive transferability of blueberry benefits to pediatric populations is warranted.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the acute effects of wild blueberry (WBB) on cognitive performance in children.
- To determine a dose-response relationship for WBB's cognitive benefits in children.
- To examine the time-course of WBB's cognitive effects in a pediatric sample.
Main Methods:
- A double-blind, cross-over study involving 21 children aged 7-10 years.
- Children consumed placebo, 15g, or 30g of freeze-dried wild blueberry (WBB) powder in drinks.
- Cognitive assessments included verbal memory, word recognition, and response inhibition at multiple time points.
Main Results:
- Significant improvements in immediate recall and delayed word recognition were observed.
- Enhanced accuracy in response interference tasks occurred at 3 hours post-consumption.
- Cognitive performance showed a dose-response relationship, with 30g WBB yielding the best results.
Conclusions:
- Wild blueberry (WBB) consumption significantly improves cognitive function in children aged 7-10 years.
- Cognitive benefits appear sensitive to task difficulty and cognitive demand.
- Findings support the potential of WBB as a dietary intervention for enhancing child cognition.
Purpose:
Previously, anthocyanin-rich blueberry treatments have shown positive effects on cognition in both animals and human adults. However, little research has considered whether these benefits transfer to children. Here we describe an acute time-course and dose-response investigation considering whether these cognitive benefits extend to children.
Methods:
Using a double-blind cross-over design, on three occasions children (n = 21; 7-10 years) consumed placebo (vehicle) or blueberry drinks containing 15 or 30 g freeze-dried wild blueberry (WBB) powder. A cognitive battery including tests of verbal memory, word recognition, response interference, response inhibition and levels of processing was performed at baseline, and 1.15, 3 and 6 h following treatment.
Results:
Significant WBB-related improvements included final immediate recall at 1.15 h, delayed word recognition sustained over each period, and accuracy on cognitively demanding incongruent trials in the interference task at 3 h. Importantly, across all measures, cognitive performance improved, consistent with a dose-response model, with the best performance following 30 g WBB and the worst following vehicle.
Conclusion:
Findings demonstrate WBB-related cognitive improvements in 7- to 10-year-old children. These effects would seem to be particularly sensitive to the cognitive demand of task.
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