Our study aimed to evaluate whether the type of food products and the frequency of their consumption are associated with cognitive functioning in younger and older adults. The impact of diets that are high in added sugars and saturated fat on cognitive functioning, especially on memory, was at the center of our interest. Participants in the study were 204 healthy adults (aged 20–55) who performed a multitasking cognitive test and completed dietary and psychological questionnaires. Stepwise regression analysis with age and food consumption patterns as predictors, and the cognitive task performance as a dependent variable, revealed that cognitive task performance worsened with age. However, we found that the frequency of consuming different types of foods (healthy versus unhealthy dietary patterns) moderates the effects of age on cognitive functioning. Red meat and animal fat consumption were negatively correlated with cognitive performance, and this relation was dependent on the age of our participants. Conversely, white meat and fish consumption were positively related to memory. Different indices of dietary patterns (both positive and negative) were stronger predictors of cognitive performance in the older adult group. We interpret our results as evidence that diet may be a protective (or worsening) factor in age-related cognitive decline.
While the video gaming training may enhance visual working memory (VWM), at the same time VWM is a key cognitive function in effective video gaming. In our study we examined the relationship between EEG data obtained during the visual working memory task and a real-time strategy (RTS) video game performance. The training lasted 30 hour, during which participants played StarCraft II, in either a fixed (FEG) or variable environment (VEG) training model, which were made to explore the role of a training complexity as an important factor. An EEG measurement took place before and after the training while performing a visual working memory task. Initial (pre-training) posterior alpha and frontal midline theta power have been specified as predictors of players' in-game advancement. Using a logistic regression model we determined telemetric variables predictive of game output. It turned out that both oscillatory bands were predictive of values of the four of the previously determined telemetric variables, but only in the FEG. Moreover we have seen differences between FEG and VEG in telemetry as well as in the neurophysiological data. Our results show how important is the complexity of the training regimen for observing the predictive power of VWM’s EEG oscillatory indicators.
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