To assess whether nutritional status can affect the outcome of spatial cognition training in the brain.
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Other condition
Synonym
Health condition
gezonde proefpersonen, eventueel met overgewicht
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
Differences in brain activation patterns (fMRI) pre- and post-training are the
main outcome measures for this study. These will be related to nutritional
status, as measured by a composite score of the Dutch healthy diet index (i.e.
a food frequency questionnaire assessing adherence to the Dutch healthy diet
guidelines) and visceral adipose tissue quantified by abdominal MRI.
Secondary outcome
In secondary analyses, we want to see how inflammatory markers, DNA methylation
(LY86 gene) (both measured from saliva) and gut microbiome diversity (measured
from stool) relate to the neurocognitive development of spatial cognition, as
potential mediators of the primary effects.
We will also decompose the composite score based on the FFQ and visceral
adipose tissue to explore whether sub-components are driving the effects.
As motivation for food reward and executive functioning have been clearly
related to obesity in previous studies with children, we will include
behavioural measures of these as a positive control (using the Progressive
Ratio task and Flanker task respectively).
Background summary
Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the
21st century. Obesity is highly associated with dietary quality, and poor
dietary quality is associated with cognitive decline. Recent evidence suggests
that inflammation of visceral adipose tissue and subsequent neuroinflammation
may underlie this association. In adults, poor dietary quality has been linked
to reduced performance in a spatial cognition task. One brain structure
particularly prone to neuroinflammation is the hippocampus, which is also the
core brain hub for spatial cognition. Indeed, a recent rodent study
demonstrated high fat diet-induced detriments in spatial cognition, mediated by
enhanced inflammation of the hippocampus. Importantly, these findings were
particularly strong in juvenile rats, i.e. during development, rather than in
adult rats. Here, we propose to examine the relation of nutritional status to
the neural development of spatial cognition in primary school children. We
adopt a spatial cognition paradigm that allows investigating training-induced
neural plasticity changes. Training effects will be compared between groups
with a low versus high nutritional status, measured by dietary assessment and
visceral adipose tissue.
Study objective
To assess whether nutritional status can affect the outcome of spatial
cognition training in the brain.
Study design
The proposed study uses a 5-day spatial cognition training to assess the
relationship between nutritional status and the neural development of spatial
cognition. The assessments are observational.
Study burden and risks
The children are not exposed to any risks when participating in this study.
Participants will come to the Donders Institute three times: (1) for the intake
session (90-120 minutes, including 20 minutes anatomical MRI scans), (2) for
the pre-training fMRI session (60 minutes in total, of which 30 minutes in the
MRI scanner) and after five days (3) for the post-training fMRI session (60
minutes in total, of which 30 minutes in the MRI scanner). In between the pre-
and the post-scan session, subjects will perform the spatial cognition training
from a computer at home, for 30 minutes a day, 5 days in a row. Saliva samples
for inflammatory markers will be collected twice, a saliva sample for
epigenetics and a stool sample for gut microbiome markers will be collected
once.
Kapittelweg 29
Nijmegen 6525EN
NL
Kapittelweg 29
Nijmegen 6525EN
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
Age: 8-10
Healthy
fMRI compatible
Proficient use of Dutch in both child and parent
Exclusion criteria
- Deafness, blindness, or sensori-motor handicaps
- Neuropsychiatric disorders
- Diabetes
- Chronic inflammatory diseases
- Daily use of ibuprofen, aspirin or glucocorticoids
- Any recent tooth extraction one month prior to the experiment
- History of oral candidiasis
- Acute illness with fever, vomiting, or diarrhea within 5 days of the study
- Recent use of antibiotics (within 3 months prior to the experiment);Exclusion criteria for MRI:
- Non-removable metal in the upper body
- Active implant, pacemaker, neurostimulator, insulin pump and/or auditory prosthetic
- Epilepsy
- Claustrophobia
- Brain surgery in the anamnesis
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
No registrations found.
Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL64464.091.17 |