title: Glucose enhances newborn memory for spoken words.
abstract: The effect of a 2 g/kg glucose feed was compared with a water feed on retention of a spoken word in 2-4 days old infants in a between group randomized trial. Infants heard a word in 30-s trials until they demonstrated orientation (head turns towards the sound) and habituation. After a 100 s delay, infants who received glucose turned toward the word less often than infants receiving water (means 31.8 vs. 57.7%, t = 2.8, p < 0.01) implying that they remembered the word better. There were no differences between groups in measures of attention to or rate of learning of the word. Only infants who subsequently oriented towards a different word, indicating that they remained alert, were used in the data analysis. The results suggest that glucose enhanced memory for a spoken word in neonates.
authors.affiliation: McGill University-Montreal Children's Hospital Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Horne
authors.forename: Ronald G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Barr
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valiante
authors.forename: Philip R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Zelazo
authors.forename: Simon N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001288:Attention; D005947:Glucose / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019416:Head Movements; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D013060:Speech
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose