Korol D L, Gold P E
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903, USA.
Am J Clin Nutr. 1998 Apr;67(4):764S-771S. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/67.4.764S.
Circulating glucose concentrations regulate many brain functions, including learning and memory. Much of the evidence for this view comes from experiments assessing stress-related release of epinephrine with subsequent increases in blood glucose concentrations. One application of this work has been to investigate whether age-related memory impairments result from dysfunctions in the neuroendocrine regulation of the brain processes responsible for memory. Like humans, aged rodents exhibit some memory impairments that can be reversed by administration of epinephrine or glucose. In elderly humans, ingestion of glucose enhances some cognitive functions, with effects best documented thus far on tests of verbal contextual and noncontextual information. Glucose also effectively enhances cognition in persons with Alzheimer disease or Down syndrome. Although earlier evidence suggested that glucose does not enhance cognitive function in healthy young adults, more recent findings suggest that glucose is effective in this population, provided the tests are sufficiently difficult. In college students, glucose consumption significantly enhanced memory of material in a paragraph. Glucose also appeared to enhance attentional processes in these students. Neither face and word recognition nor working memory was influenced by treatment with glucose. The neurobiological mechanisms by which glucose acts are under current investigation. Initial evidence suggests that glucose or a metabolite may activate release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in rats when they are engaged in learning. Consequently, the issue of nutrition and cognition becomes increasingly important in light of evidence that circulating glucose concentrations have substantial effects on brain and cognitive functions.
循环葡萄糖浓度调节许多脑功能，包括学习和记忆。这一观点的许多证据来自评估与应激相关的肾上腺素释放以及随后血糖浓度升高的实验。这项工作的一个应用是研究与年龄相关的记忆障碍是否源于负责记忆的脑过程的神经内分泌调节功能障碍。与人类一样，老年啮齿动物表现出一些记忆障碍，这些障碍可通过给予肾上腺素或葡萄糖来逆转。在老年人中，摄入葡萄糖可增强一些认知功能，迄今为止，在言语情境和非情境信息测试中效果最为显著。葡萄糖对患有阿尔茨海默病或唐氏综合征的人也能有效增强认知。尽管早期证据表明葡萄糖对健康的年轻人的认知功能没有增强作用，但最近的研究结果表明，只要测试足够难，葡萄糖对这一人群是有效的。在大学生中，摄入葡萄糖显著增强了对段落中材料的记忆。葡萄糖似乎也增强了这些学生的注意力过程。葡萄糖处理对人脸识别、单词识别或工作记忆均无影响。目前正在研究葡萄糖发挥作用的神经生物学机制。初步证据表明，当大鼠学习时，葡萄糖或一种代谢物可能会激活神经递质乙酰胆碱的释放。因此，鉴于循环葡萄糖浓度对脑和认知功能有重大影响的证据，营养与认知问题变得越来越重要。
