Can a glucose drink help your memory?
Jul 11 2009 by Vicky Robson, The Journal
ELDERLY people are being sought to take part in research to find the effects of glucose on memory.
Researchers at Northumbria University, Newcastle, are asking for people of 65 and over to volunteer to help studies looking at how glucose can affect the brain and cognition.
But it is the first one that will examine whether or not age plays a part in the regulation of the essential carbohydrate by comparing two different age groups.
The scientists, at the university’s Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Centre, have already studied 18 to 30-year-olds and now want 24 elderly people to take part in cognitive tests.
The tests, which involve giving a placebo to some participants, will see if age has anything to do with the way glucose is processed.
Glucose – or sugar – is a primary source of energy for the brain and the researchers want to examine its effect on the memory of older people.
Prof David McKenna, at Northumbria University, said: “Glucose is the main fuel of the brain. What we are looking at are the differences in young and old people and whether it has a different effect on their cognitive performances.
“As we get older our ability to regulate the levels in our bodies deteriorates. So is it possible that by giving older people a drink of glucose it will improve their performance?
“It might have a bigger or a lesser effect, but that is what we want to find out.”
The research started in 2006 to find how glucose affects a person’s memory and attention.
Researchers are looking at the contrasting groups of 18 to 30s and over 65s, to try to determine the effect of age on the body’s reaction to glucose.
The study is the final one in a series funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Bernadette Robertson, research assistant at the centre, said: “As people get older you usually find they have a poorer regulation of glucose so we are comparing the differences of glucose in cognition and performance in the different ages to look at the differences in the glucose regulation.”
Participants in the study will be asked to visit the university six times where they will be asked to complete computer-based and pen-and paper tasks.
Anyone interested in taking part should contact Bernadette Robertson on (0191) 243 7252, or by email at bernadette.robertson@northumbria.ac.uk
