AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF SACCHARIDES ON THE MEMORY PERFORMANCE OF MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS

Objectives: To investigate the effects of glucose, or a combination of saccharides, or a placebo on the memory performance of middle-aged adults. Design: A double-blind, placebo controlled design was used. A population-based sample of 45 men and women (aged 40-63 years) completed a series of memory tasks following administration of a single dose of either glucose, a combination of saccharides or placebo. Memory tasks included immediate and delayed recall, recognition, short-term memory, working memory, and a test of general cognitive ability. Results: There were no statistically significant effects of treatments on any of the outcome measures. Conclusion: The pattern of means in the combination of saccharides group suggests potential enhancement effects of memory performance in middle-aged adults that deserves further investigation.