Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2025
A Method for Manipulating Blood Glucose and Measuring Resulting Changes in Cognitive Accessibility of Target Stimuli
Published on: August 12, 2016
A randomised crossover trial of nitrate and breakfast on prefrontal cognitive and haemodynamic response functions
Emerald G Heiland1,2, Frida Lindh3, Callum Regan3,4
1Department of Physical Activity and Health, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), Stockholm, Sweden. emerald.heiland@gih.se.
Abstract:
It remains unknown whether dietary nitrate and breakfast may enhance working memory (WM) performance by augmenting physiological mechanisms and subjective psychological well-being. We performed a 3-arm randomised within-subject crossover study, with pretest-posttest comparisons, to test whether nitrate consumption via breakfast with a beetroot juice shot or regular breakfast compared to no breakfast improved WM (measured with n-back tests) and cognitive task-related changes in prefrontal cortical haemodynamic response (oxygenated- and deoxygenated-haemoglobin derived from functional near-infrared spectroscopy). In addition, effects on peripheral vascular function and self-reported psychological factors were assessed. In 60 adolescents (13-15 years old; 66% girls), WM improved in all conditions, with no intervention effects. Intervention effects were seen for oxygenated-haemoglobin changes, such that it increased after the breakfast with a nitrate shot during the WM tests and decreased after the regular breakfast. Thus, different neurophysiological mechanisms may be at play to preserve WM in adolescents depending on their breakfast composition. The trial was registered in the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN16596056) on 21/02/2022.
More Related Videos
09:03Radiotracer Administration for High Temporal Resolution Positron Emission Tomography of the Human Brain: Application to FDG-fPET
Published on: October 22, 2019
10:33Correlating Behavioral Responses to fMRI Signals from Human Prefrontal Cortex: Examining Cognitive Processes Using Task Analysis
Published on: June 20, 2012
Related Concept Videos
01:16Antianginal Drugs: Nitrates and β-Blockers
Organic nitrates, such as nitroglycerin, play a pivotal role. Once metabolized, they liberate nitric oxide, a molecular marvel. Nitric oxide triggers guanylyl cyclase and augments cGMP production. This biochemical cascade orchestrates the relaxation of vascular smooth muscles, ushering in vasodilation and enhancing coronary blood flow....
01:16Crossover Experiments
Crossover designs are performed even with smaller sample sizes since the samples can act as their controls. These are better than simple randomized trials since patients are exposed to all the treatments.
01:15Chronopharmacokinetics: Circadian Rhythms and Influence on Drug Response
The time of drug administration is an important factor to consider, as it can influence the toxic dose of a drug. For example, a study conducted by Prins et al. in 1997 examined the effects of the timing of...