Acute effects of macronutrient manipulations on cognitive test performance in healthy young adults: A systematic research review

The potential for foods to exert effects on behaviour is increasingly recognised. Previous studies have incorporated both well-known and lesser-known cognitive tests in the evaluation of relationships between macronutrient interventions and mental performance. Systematic review methodology was used to identify studies of macronutrient effects on cognition, limited to acute effects in young, fasted, healthy adults. Thirty-one studies met the inclusion criteria, yielding a total of 134 outcome measures. The studies reviewed displayed a predominance of soluble glucose manipulations, and a paucity of complex carbohydrate, protein or fat manipulations. Memory performance was most commonly measured, but verbal fluency, attention, reaction time, psychomotor skill and problem solving were also assessed. Significant differences in performance tended to occur under circumstances of more intense cognitive demand and after delays. Memory emerged as the most sensitive cognitive modality to macronutrient manipulations. Tasks identified as sensitive included Serial Sevens, Free Word Recall and Cued Word Recall, with tentative support for the Word Recognition Task. Findings also suggested that visuo-spatial memory may be influenced by macronutrient manipulations.