Cognitive tests used in chronic adult human randomised controlled trial micronutrient and phytochemical intervention studies

Macready, A. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0368-9336, Butler, L. T., Kennedy, O. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3885-4872, Ellis, J. A., Williams, C. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4452-671X and Spencer, J. P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2931-7274 (2010) Cognitive tests used in chronic adult human randomised controlled trial micronutrient and phytochemical intervention studies. Nutrition Research Reviews, 23 (2). pp. 200-229. ISSN 0954-4224 doi: 10.1017/S0954422410000119

Abstract/Summary

In recent years there has been a rapid growth of interest in exploring the relationship between nutritional therapies and the maintenance of cognitive function in adulthood. Emerging evidence reveals an increasingly complex picture with respect to the benefits of various food constituents on learning, memory and psychomotor function in adults. However, to date, there has been little consensus in human studies on the range of cognitive domains to be tested or the particular tests to be employed. To illustrate the potential difficulties that this poses, we conducted a systematic review of existing human adult randomised controlled trial (RCT) studies that have investigated the effects of 24 d to 36 months of supplementation with flavonoids and micronutrients on cognitive performance. There were thirty-nine studies employing a total of 121 different cognitive tasks that met the criteria for inclusion. Results showed that less than half of these studies reported positive effects of treatment, with some important cognitive domains either under-represented or not explored at all. Although there was some evidence of sensitivity to nutritional supplementation in a number of domains (for example, executive function, spatial working memory), interpretation is currently difficult given the prevailing 'scattergun approach' for selecting cognitive tests. Specifically, the practice means that it is often difficult to distinguish between a boundary condition for a particular nutrient and a lack of task sensitivity. We argue that for significant future progress to be made, researchers need to pay much closer attention to existing human RCT and animal data, as well as to more basic issues surrounding task sensitivity, statistical power and type I error.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/17716
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/S0954422410000119
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN) Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences > Human Nutrition Research Group Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Food Chain and Health Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Nutrition and Health Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Language and Cognition Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research (ICMR)
Uncontrolled Keywords	Cognitive tests; Micronutrients; Phytochemicals; Adult randomised controlled trials
Publisher	Cambridge Journals
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