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Vaccaro MG, Innocenti B, Cione E, Gallelli L, De Sarro G, Bonilla DA, Cannataro R. Acute effects of a chewable beetroot-based supplement on cognitive performance: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled crossover clinical trial. Eur J Nutr 2024; 63:303-321. [PMID: 37875637 PMCID: PMC10799154 DOI: 10.1007/s00394-023-03265-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dietary nitrate (NO3-) has been shown to be useful as an ergogenic aid with potential applications in health and disease (e.g., blood pressure control). However, there is no consensus about the effects of dietary NO3- or beetroot (BR) juice supplementation on cognitive function. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a single dose of a chewable BR-based supplement on cognitive performance. METHODS A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled two-period crossover clinical trial was carried out based on the extension of the CONSORT guidelines for randomized crossover trials. A total of 44 participants (24 F; 20 M; 32.7 [12.5] years; 66.3 [9.0] kg; 170 [9.2] cm; 22.8 [1.4] kg/m2) were randomly allocated to receive first either four BR-based chewable tablets (BR-CT) containing 3 g of a Beta vulgaris extract (RedNite®) or four tablets of a placebo (maltodextrin). A 4-day washout period was used before crossover. Ninety minutes after ingestion of the treatments, a neuropsychological testing battery was administered in each period. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov NCT05509075. RESULTS Significant improvements with moderate effect size were found on memory consolidation at the short and long term only after BR-CT supplementation via the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test immediate (+ 20.69%) and delayed (+ 12.34%) recalls. Likewise, enhancement on both frontal lobe functions (+ 2.57%) and cognitive flexibility (+ 11.16%) were detected after BR-CT. There was no significant change (p < 0.05) on verbal memory of short-term digits, working memory and information processing speed. Mixed results were found on mood and anxiety through the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y1 and STAI-Y2); however, sequence and period effects were seen on STAI-Y2. CONCLUSIONS The acute administration of a chewable BR-based supplement improves certain aspects of cognitive function in healthy females and males, particularly memory capacity and frontal skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Grazia Vaccaro
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy
| | | | - Erika Cione
- Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy
- Galascreen Laboratories, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy
| | - Luca Gallelli
- Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacovigilance Operative Unit, Department of Health Science, University of Magna Graecia, Mater Domini Hospital, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Giovambattista De Sarro
- Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacovigilance Operative Unit, Department of Health Science, University of Magna Graecia, Mater Domini Hospital, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Diego A Bonilla
- Research Division, Dynamical Business and Science Society-DBSS International SAS, 110861, Bogotá, Colombia
- Research Group in Physical Activity, Sports and Health Sciences (GICAFS), Universidad de Córdoba, 230002, Montería, Colombia
- Research Group in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, 110311, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Roberto Cannataro
- Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy.
- Galascreen Laboratories, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy.
- Research Division, Dynamical Business and Science Society-DBSS International SAS, 110861, Bogotá, Colombia.
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Guo D, Chen G, Yang J. Effects of schema on the relationship between post-encoding brain connectivity and subsequent durable memory. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8736. [PMID: 37253795 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-34822-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Schemas can facilitate memory consolidation. Studies have suggested that interactions between the hippocampus and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are important for schema-related memory consolidation. However, in humans, how schema accelerates the consolidation of new information and relates to durable memory remains unclear. To address these knowledge gaps, we used a human analogue of the rodent spatial schema task and resting-state fMRI to investigate how post-encoding brain networks can predict long-term memory performance in different schema conditions. After participants were trained to obtain schema-consistent or schema-inconsistent object-location associations, they learned new object-location associations. The new associations were tested after the post-encoding rest in the scanner and 24 h later outside the scanner. The Bayesian multilevel modelling was applied to analyse the post-encoding brain networks. The results showed that during the post-encoding, stronger vmPFC- anterior hippocampal connectivity was associated with durable memory in the schema-consistent condition, whereas stronger object-selective lateral occipital cortex (LOC)-ventromedial prefrontal connectivity and weaker connectivity inside the default mode network were associated with durable memory in the schema inconsistent condition. In addition, stronger LOC-anterior hippocampal connectivity was associated with memory in both schema conditions. These results shed light on how schemas reconfigure early brain networks, especially the prefrontal-hippocampal and stimuli-relevant cortical networks and influence long-term memory performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dingrong Guo
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behaviour and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Gang Chen
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jiongjiong Yang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behaviour and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.
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Johnson EL, Yin Q, O'Hara NB, Tang L, Jeong JW, Asano E, Ofen N. Dissociable oscillatory theta signatures of memory formation in the developing brain. Curr Biol 2022; 32:1457-1469.e4. [PMID: 35172128 PMCID: PMC9007830 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Revised: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Understanding complex human brain functions is critically informed by studying such functions during development. Here, we addressed a major gap in models of human memory by leveraging rare direct electrophysiological recordings from children and adolescents. Specifically, memory relies on interactions between the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and prefrontal cortex (PFC), and the maturation of these interactions is posited to play a key role in supporting memory development. To understand the nature of MTL-PFC interactions, we examined subdural recordings from MTL and PFC in 21 neurosurgical patients aged 5.9-20.5 years as they performed an established scene memory task. We determined signatures of memory formation by comparing the study of subsequently recognized to forgotten scenes in single trials. Results establish that MTL and PFC interact via two distinct theta mechanisms, an ∼3-Hz oscillation that supports amplitude coupling and slows down with age and an ∼7-Hz oscillation that supports phase coupling and speeds up with age. Slow and fast theta interactions immediately preceding scene onset further explained age-related differences in recognition performance. Last, with additional diffusion imaging data, we linked both functional mechanisms to the structural maturation of the cingulum tract. Our findings establish system-level dynamics of memory formation and suggest that MTL and PFC interact via increasingly dissociable mechanisms as memory improves across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth L Johnson
- Life-Span Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Institute of Gerontology and Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Departments of Medical Social Sciences and Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Qin Yin
- Life-Span Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Institute of Gerontology and Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
| | - Nolan B O'Hara
- Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | - Lingfei Tang
- Life-Span Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Institute of Gerontology and Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
| | - Jeong-Won Jeong
- Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA; Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | - Eishi Asano
- Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA; Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | - Noa Ofen
- Life-Span Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Institute of Gerontology and Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
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