Glucose administration enhances fMRI brain activation and connectivity related to episodic memory encoding for neutral and emotional stimuli

Glucose enhancement of recognition memory: Differential effects on effortful processing but not aspects of ‘remember-know’ responses

“…Behavioural studies have indicated that the cognitive enhancing properties of glucose preferentially target the memory processes subserved by this region (Riby et al, 2006;Smith et al, 2011;Sünram-Lea et al, 2008, 2002a. Concordant evidence has been obtained from a recent trial which utilised fMRI to examine the neural mechanisms underlying glucose memory enhancements in healthy young adults (Parent et al, 2011). Findings from this study revealed that glucose administration enhanced hippocampal activity during the encoding of pictures and this pattern of activation predicted subsequent successful recall when tested one day later.…”

“…These findings indicate that during encoding, the glucose treatment may have influenced an aspect of recognition memory common to both processes. Based on the findings of Parent et al (2011), that glucose was capable of increasing neural activity across a network of brain regions, it is possible that in the current study, glucose administration also influenced brain regions outside the hippocampus. Evidence that glucose can improve cognitive functions, including tracking and implicit memory, which do not depend on the hippocampus (Owen et al, 2010;Riby et al, 2008;Scholey et al, 2001Scholey et al, , 2006Scholey et al, , 2009, indicates It is likely that glucose is capable of influencing cognitive processes mediated by neural regions outside the hippocampus.…”

“…In this study, glucose increased amplitude and decreased latency of the P3b component, generally understood to reflect updating of memory content and to be generated by the hippocampus and temporaleparietal junction. In a more direct investigation of the brain regions influenced by glucose, Parent et al (2011) used fMRI to examine glucose effects on episodic memory encoding of emotionally negative and neutral pictures. Findings from this trial indicated that glucose administration may influence memory by increasing connectivity between the shown.…”

The anterior medial temporal lobes: Their role in food intake and body weight regulation

“…Second, glucose is known to have memory-enhancing effects, which are mediated via changes in hippocampal (e.g., [105]) and amygdala (e.g., [144]) activities. Interestingly, glucose also increases the functional connectivity between the amygdala and the hippocampus [116]. Third, cued conditioning relies on the amygdala, but in the case of a conditioning relying on context, the hippocampus would additionally be recruited [97].…”

Self-Regulatory Strength: Neural Mechanisms and Implications for Training

“…For example, early work by Benton et al (1994) demonstrated that glucose ingestion improved attention and memory (inferred from faster reaction times). More recently, Parent and others (Parent et al 2011) conducted a careful double-blind study to test the effects of blood glucose (vs. placebo) on memory processes. They found that elevated glucose levels facilitated memory encoding in the hippocampus, and that this was predictive of subsequent episodic recall.…”