Oral Consumption of D-Glucose Increases Blood Glucose Levels but does not Alter the False Memory Effect using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott task in a Non-Diabetic Sample

Glucose, a well-known memory modulator and physiological component of acute arousal, was examined for its influence on the false memory effect in two experiments. A baseline blood glucose (BG) measure was followed by the consumption of d-glucose or saccharin and a 15-minute post-consumption BG test in Experiment 1. Participants were then asked to listen to either a false memory lure wordlist or a control wordlist. Subsequently, participants completed recall and recognition tests. In Experiment 2, participants consumed either glucose or saccharin prior to listening to ten lure wordlists, each followed by a recall and recognition test. Results of Experiment 1 revealed significant elevations in BG following d-glucose consumption and greater recall for lure lists than control lists regardless of drink type. The lure was also recalled significantly more often from the lure list, replicating the false memory effect for words using a single wordlist. D-glucose had no effect on word recall, but decreased wordlist recognition performance, and had no effect on false memory or ‘remember’/’know’ judgments. Results of Experiment 2 indicated that d-glucose significantly enhanced word recall and recognition of old words, but as in Experiment 1, it did not alter recall of the lure, thus failing to influence the false memory effect. The failure of glucose to alter the false memory effect suggests that this neurobiological product of the stress cascade may not likely alter real world occurrences of false memory.