The Effects of Carbohydrates, in Isolation and Combined with Caffeine, on Cognitive Performance and Mood-Current Evidence and Future Directions.

This review examines the effects of carbohydrates, delivered individually and in combination with caffeine, on a range of cognitive domains and subjective mood. There is evidence for beneficial effects of glucose at a dose of 25 g on episodic memory, but exploration of dose effects has not been systematic and the effects on other cognitive domains is not known. Factors contributing to the differential sensitivity to glucose facilitation include age, task difficulty/demand, task domain, and glucoregulatory control. There is modest evidence to suggest modulating glycemic response may impact cognitive function. The evidence presented in this review identifies dose ranges of glucose and caffeine which improve cognition, but fails to find convincing consistent synergistic effects of combining caffeine and glucose. Whilst combining glucose and caffeine has been shown to facilitate cognitive performance and mood compared to placebo or glucose alone, the relative contribution of caffeine and glucose to the observed effects is difficult to ascertain, due to the paucity of studies that have appropriately compared the effects of these ingredients combined and in isolation. This review identifies a number of methodological challenges which need to be considered in the design of future hypothesis driven research in this area.

• Publication year

  2018

• Venue

  Nutrients

• Publication date

  Unknown publication date

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/nu10020192PMID 29425182PMCID PMC5852768
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• Combining glucose with caffeine improves cognitive performance and mood relative to placebo or glucose alone, but the review finds no convincing consistent synergistic effect from the combination.

  Confidence 0.93

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• Modulating glycemic response may affect cognitive function.

  Confidence 0.80

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• Age, task difficulty or demand, task domain, and glucoregulatory control contribute to differential sensitivity to glucose facilitation.

  Confidence 0.88

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• A 25 g dose of glucose shows beneficial effects on episodic memory.

  Confidence 0.95

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review

• caffeine

  compound, intervention

  A stimulant compound evaluated here alongside glucose for effects on cognition and mood.

  Aliases: 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• cognitive performance

  outcome

  Performance on tasks measuring attention, memory, or other mental functions.

  Aliases: cognition

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• combined glucose and caffeine

  intervention

  An intervention in which glucose and caffeine are administered together.

  Aliases: glucose and caffeine combination, caffeine plus glucose

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• episodic memory

  cognitive domain, outcome

  A cognitive domain involving recall of personally experienced events and information.

  Aliases: memory recall

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• glucoregulatory control

  physiological factor

  Physiological control of blood glucose levels that may shape responses to glucose intake.

  Aliases: glucose regulation

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• glucose

  nutrient, intervention

  A simple carbohydrate examined here as a standalone ingredient in cognitive and mood studies.

  Aliases: dextrose

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• glycemic response

  metabolic response

  The change in blood glucose after carbohydrate intake or other intervention.

  Aliases: blood glucose response

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review
• mood

  outcome

  Subjective affective state assessed as an outcome in the reviewed studies.

  Aliases: subjective mood

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) review

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