Effect of Sugars in Solutions on Immediate and Delayed Word List Recall in Normal Weight Boys

Dietary glucose improves memory performance in several adult populations; however, there are no comparative studies of commonly consumed sugars on memory performance in children. The objective was to compare the effect of glucose, sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup-55 (HFCS) solutions on immediate and delayed word list recall in 9 to 14 year-old normal weight boys. In a repeated measures design, 15 normal weight boys received, in random order, preloads (200 kcal/250 mL) of glucose, sucrose, HFCS, or non-caloric sucralose control. The boys were presented with a 15 item word list to memorize 15 minutes after ingestion of the preloads and asked to recall the words immediately after, and at 30, 45, 60 and 90 minutes. There were no significant differences among the glucose, sucrose and HFCS preloads on word list recall compared with the non-caloric sucralose control at any of the time points. However, word list recall was highest at 15 minutes, and decreased over time to 90 minutes after all preloads (P < 0.0001). Sugars in solutions do not differ in their effects on word list memory recall compared with a non-caloric sucralose control in 9 to 14 year-old normal weight boys.