title: Arousal and continuous attention during Ramadan intermittent fasting.
abstract: During the month of Ramadan, practicing Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. We aimed to investigate the effect of Ramadan fasting on arousal and continuous attention. The electrodermal activity and cancellation test of students were measured in fasting and non-fasting conditions after the conclusion of the Ramadan fast period. The skin conductance level of the fasting group was no different from the non-fasting group. In non-fasting group, the skin conductance response amplitude to an auditory stimulus was higher and the skin conductance response onset latency was lower than in the fasting group. Cancellation test results: the fasting group had a lower total number of marked targets (TNTM) but a higher total number of missed targets (TNMT) and length of time for the subject to complete the test (LTCT) than the non-fasting group. Ramadan fasting did not change arousal, but the reaction time to an auditory stimulus increased during the Ramadan intermittent fasting. Both reaction amplitude and continuous attention also decreased in the fasting condition.
authors: Faculty of Medicine, University of Erciyes, Department of Physiology, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey. nazan_dolu@yahoo.com
authors: Nazan
authors: N
authors: Dolu
authors: Ahmet
authors: A
authors: Yüksek
authors: Alparslan
authors: A
authors: Sizer
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Alay
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002562:Ceremonial Behavior; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose