Iron states and cognitive abilities in young adults: neuropsychological and neurophysiological assessment

Abstract

Many investigators found that iron deficiency anemia (IDA) had a great influence on cognitive functions in infants and children. However, studies of such topic in adults are few and controversial. We prospectively assessed the possible influence of IDA and iron supplementation (for 3 months) on cognitive function and intelligence of 28 young adults with IDA. We used group of hematological, cognitive, neurophysiological tests for assessment including: mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Wechsler memory scale-revised (WMS-R), Wechsler adult intelligence scale-revised (WAIS-R), event-related potentials (ERPs), and electroencephalography (EEG). Compared to controls, patients demonstrated lower scores of different cognitive tests (MMSE, WMS-R, and WAIS-R), which showed significant improvement after treatment. Prolongation of ERPs latencies (N200 and P300) and reduction in their amplitudes (P200 and P300) were identified with significant increase in amplitude occurred after treatment. EEG abnormalities were observed in 55% of patients which showed improvement in 35% after treatment. Positive correlation was identified before and after treatment between hemoglobin levels and MMSE (P=0.01, 0.05), total verbal (P=0.04) and performance (P=0.05, 0.04) IQ scores. Negative correlation was identified between before and after treatment between P300 latency and total IQ of WAIS-R (P=0.03, 0.008) and hemoglobin level (P=0.4, 0.01). Positive correlation was found before and after treatment between P300 amplitude and total IQ (P=0.028, 0.01) and serum iron (P=0.01, 0.001). In conclusion, IDA is a significant factor in cognitive performance in adult population, which can be partially reversed by treatment.

Iron deficiency and cognitive functions

“…As a result, authors concluded that IDA is a key in cognitive performance in adults, which can be partially reversed by treatment 75. In young women, Murray-Kolb and Beard76 have found that an improvement in serum ferritin after iron supplementation correlated to better cognitive performance, whereas a significant improvement in hemoglobin correlated to improved speed in completing the cognitive tasks.…”

Neuropsicologia da Síndrome das Pernas Inquietas: Revisão de Literatura

“…Como apontado anteriormente, a SPI/WED é uma doença crônica que afeta a eficiência e qualidade do sono, com impacto nas atividades diurnas e qualidade de vida dos pacientes acometidos 3,12 [17][18][19] . Dessa forma, ainda não está claro quais aspectos da neurobiologia e morbidade da SPI/WED podem ter um impacto direto sobre o funcionamento cognitivo desses pacientes.…”

P300 as an auxiliary method in clinical practice: A review of literature

“…Moreover, with P300 testing, damage of cognitive functions resulting from taking different medicines, especially antiepileptic drugs, can also be monitored (61)(62)(63). Additionally, P300 characteristics help diagnosing cognitive damage resulting from systemic diseases, such as anaemia, uremia (renal insufficiency), hepatic encephalopathy, systemic lupus erythematosus, diabetes mellitus, hypothyreosis, as well as COPD (64)(65)(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75)(76). Moreover, cognitive function damage in patients with HIV-1 neurologically asymptomatic seropositive can be assessed with P300 testing (78).…”

“…Cognitive damage in some systemic diseases can be assessed with CEP P300 (64)(65)(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75)(76)(77)(78). Improvements in the treatment and recovery can be followed in the same way.…”