Brain, Hypoxia, Altitude
Conditions
Keywords
Resveratrol, Cerebral blood flow, Cognition, Hypoxia, Polyphenols
Brief summary
Background: Vaso-active polyphenols have been proposed to enhance cognitive performance. Oral administration with the non-flavonoid polyphenol, resveratrol, has been found to modulate cerebral blood flow (CBF); yet, this has not resulted in subsequent predicted benefits to cognitive performance in young, healthy samples. It has been argued that ageing populations who are noted suffer a reduction in CBF and cognition, may possess the subtle deficits to benefit from resveratrol administration. The use of hypoxia has been previously tested by this research group to mimic the decrease in cognitive functioning associated with ageing. Objectives: The current investigation aimed to further assess if a reduced fraction of inspired oxygen (12.7% FiO2) could provide an experimental model of aging in a young, healthy sample. Moreover, the current study also aimed to assess if resveratrol can attenuate the deficits elicited by the reduction in oxygen supply via increased CBF. Design: This repeated measures, double blind, placebo controlled, balanced design assessed the cognitive and CBF effects of resveratrol in hypoxia (equivalent to 4000 m above sea level) and normoxia (sea level). Methods: Twenty-four participants arrived fully fasted (except water) for 12 hours before completing a baseline measure of a cognitive task battery, and taking the treatment for the day (either 500 mg resveratrol or inert placebo). Following a 45 min absorption period, participants completed 3 full repetitions of a cognitive test battery. Changes in cerebral hemodynamics were measured by near-infrared spectroscopy throughout the full testing session.
Interventions
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTResveratrol
OTHERPlacebo
Sponsors
Northumbria University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Individuals who provided informed consent. * Those who didn't meet any of the
Exclusion criteria
. * Those who took hormonal contraception (e.g.: the pill, coil, implant, etc.) were eligible to participate in the current study.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cerebral blood flow | 2 hours | Cerebral heamodynamic response (of the prefrontal cortex) was measured at rest and during task performance. The outputs measured here were: oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin concentrations. The addition of these two outputs can also detail total haemoglobin, a proxy for cerebral blood flow. All outputs were reported as concentration change in μmol / L. |
| Cognitive performance | 1 hour | Participants completed a number of tasks to measure cognitive performance (as represented by the three main cognitive domains impacted by hypoxia (Memory, Speed of Attention, & Accuracy of Attention)), as part of a 15-minute cognitive battery. Cognitive tasks were scored for accuracy of responses (% correct) and the reaction time to respond to each correct response (in milliseconds (ms)). With the exception of the memory tasks which were scored for the number of correct responses and for the number error responses. Scores across the multiple cognitive tasks were combined to represent the three overall cognitive domains outlined above. |
Outcome results
None listed