The objective of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was to determine whether glucose enhanced memory for a repeated auditory stimulus in human newborns. Infants consumed water or glucose (2-g/kg) solution. Memory test phases were: Orientation (turning towards the stimulus); Habituation (not turning towards), indicating familiarity; Delay (100 seconds); Spontaneous Recovery (stimulus representation: not turning towards indicates remembering, while turning towards indicates forgetting), and Novelty (turning towards a different word confirms wakefulness). Decreased head-turning towards during Spontaneous Recovery indicates enhanced memory. Blood glucose levels were measured after testing. / "Glucose" infants had higher blood glucose levels than "water" infants (p < 0.001). "Glucose" infants had significantly decreased turns towards during Spontaneous Recovery compared to "water" infants (p = 0.008), indicating memory enhancement. / Therefore, glucose specifically enhances memory for a repeated auditory stimulus in newborn humans. Elevating blood glucose levels by approximately 2 mmol/L appears to be sufficient for memory enhancement in healthy newborns.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.30668 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Horne, Pamela. |
| Contributors | Young, Simon N. (advisor), Barr, Ronald G. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001746357, proquestno: MQ64372, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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