Memory and Sugar
Dr. Bruno’s Original Post: Thinking Improves With "A Spoon Full of Sugar."
This study should apply double for polio survivors since our research found there was impaired attention and slowed thinking speed in polio survivors who had low, just barely normal blood sugar levels. This is a summary of the article:
Sugar Improves Memory in Over 60’s – Helping them Work Smarter
A small dose of sugar can improve memory in older adults, motivate them to work harder and puts them in a good mood when performing difficult tasks.
Researchers gave participants a drink containing a small amount of glucose and got them to perform memory tasks – found improvements in memory, mood and level of engagement.
Short-term energy in the form of raised blood sugar levels could be an important factor in older adults’ motivation to perform a task at their highest capacity.
“Sugar improves memory in older adults – and makes them more motivated to perform difficult tasks at full capacity – according to new research by the University of Warwick. Led by Konstantinos Mantantzis, Professor Elizabeth Maylor and Dr. Friederike Schlaghecken in Warwick's Department of Psychology, the study found that increasing blood sugar levels not only improves memory and performance, but makes older adults feel happier during a task.”
“The authors concluded that short-term energy availability in the form of raised blood sugar levels could be an important factor in older adults’ motivation to perform a task at their highest capacity. Heightened motivation, in turn, could explain the fact that increased blood sugar levels also increase older adults’ sense of self-confidence, decrease self-perceptions of effort, and improve mood. However, more research is needed to disentangle these factors in order to fully understand how energy availability affects cognitive engagement, and to develop clear dietary guidelines for older adults.”
“Our results bring us a step closer to understanding what motivates older adults to exert effort and finding ways of increasing their willingness to try hard even if a task seems impossible to perform.”