Effects of a Multi-Ingredient Energy Supplement on Cognitive Performance and Cerebral-Cortical Activation. (4th March 2019) - Daou, Marcos
ABSTRACT: This study assessed whether a multi-ingredient energy supplement (MIES) could enhance cerebral-cortical activation and cognitive performance during an attention-switching task. Cerebral-cortical activation was recorded in 24 young adults (12 males, 12 females; 22.8 ± 3.8 yrs) via electroencephalography (EEG) both at rest and during the attention-switching task before (pretest) and 30 min after (posttest) consumption of a single serving of a MIES (MIES-1), two servings of a MIES (MIES-2), or a placebo (PL) in a double-blinded, randomized crossover experimental design. EEG upper-alpha power was assessed at rest and during the task, wherein d′ ( Z [hit rate]– Z [false alarm rate]) and median reaction time (RT) for correct responses to targets on attention-hold and attention-switch trials were analyzed. For both d′ and RT, the Session (MIES-1, MIES-2, PL) × Time (pretest, posttest) interaction approached statistical significance ( p = .07, η 2 p = 0.106). Exploring these interactions with linear contrasts, a significant linear effect of supplement dose on the linear effect of time was observed ( p s ≤.034), suggesting the pretest-to-posttest improvement in sensitivity to task target stimuli ( d′ ) and RT increased as a function of supplement dose. With respect to upper-alpha power, the Session × Time interaction was significant ( p < .001, η 2 p = 0.422). Exploring this interaction with linear contrasts, a significant linear effect of supplement dose on the linear effect of time was observed ( p < .001), suggesting pretest-to-posttest increases in cerebral-cortical activation were a function of supplement dose. In conclusion, our findings suggest that MIES can increase cerebral-cortical activation and RT during task performance while increasing sensitivity to target stimuli in a dose-dependent manner.