•  
  •  
 

EFFECTS OF SUGAR INTAKE ON COLLEGIATE STUDENTS MEMORY RECALL

Abstract

In higher education institutions cafeterias, most food options contain an excess amount of glucose. Most college students focus on courses and give little thought to what is consumed. This study focused on how glucose consumption affects collegiate students' immediate (MWR) and delayed (DR) memory recall. This study was conducted in the Brewton-Parker College Kinesiology Lab on Mondays at 8 a.m. The convenience sample consisted of 20 participants (10 male, 10 female) with an exclusion of fasted blood glucose levels exceeding 110 mg/dL. Randomly assigned, both experimental and control groups were blind to the supplementation type, with the experimental group consuming a glucose drink of 15g of liquid glucose, while the control group consumed a placebo containing 10 drops of the artificial sweetener. Before supplementation and 10 minutes post, immediate and delayed memory recall was tested utilizing the memory and delayed recalled sections of the SCAT5 concussion testing protocol. For the immediate memory test, participants were read a list of words and repeated as many words as they could remember in any order. The delayed recall was performed after 5 minutes had elapsed with participants instructed to repeat any words on the original list. One point was scored for each correct response. The results of the study determined that there is no statistically significant difference in MWR between glucose (M = 4.4 words) and placebo (M = 4.5 words) supplementation (p = .77). Results did indicate a statistically significant difference in DR between glucose (M= 3.7 words) and placebo (M=3.6 words) supplementation (p=0.04). In conclusion, the study determined that under the conditions described here, there is no statistically significant association between the consumption of glucose intake and cognitive function concerning MWR in college-aged students. However, increased glucose consumption resulted in increased DR.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS