title: A systematic review of the effects of experimental fasting on cognition.
abstract: Numerous investigations have been conducted on the impact of short-term fasting on cognition in healthy individuals. Some studies have suggested that fasting is associated with executive function deficits; however, findings have been inconsistent. The lack of consensus regarding the impact of short-term fasting in healthy controls has impeded investigation of the impact of starvation or malnutrition in clinical groups, such as anorexia nervosa (AN). One method of disentangling these effects is to examine acute episodes of starvation experimentally. The present review systematically investigated the impact of short-term fasting on cognition. Studies investigating attentional bias to food-related stimuli were excluded so as to focus on general cognition. Ten articles were included in the review. The combined results are equivocal: several studies report no observable differences as a result of fasting and others show specific deficits on tasks designed to test psychomotor speed, executive function, and mental rotation. This inconsistent profile of fasting in healthy individuals demonstrates the complexity of the role of short-term fasting in cognition; the variety of tasks used, composition of the sample, and type and duration of fasting across studies may also have contributed to the inconsistent profile. Additional focused studies on neuropsychological profiles of healthy individuals are warranted in order to better develop an understanding of the role of hunger in cognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of the Sciences, 600 S. 43rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
authors.forename: Erik M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Benau
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of the Sciences, 600 S. 43rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
authors.forename: Natalia C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Orloff
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of the Sciences, 600 S. 43rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
authors.forename: E Amy
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Janke
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 7HB, UK; North East London Foundation Trust, Trust Head Office, Goodmayes Hospital, Barley Lane, Ilford Essex IG3 8XJ, UK.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Serpell
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of the Sciences, 600 S. 43rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. Electronic address: a.timko@usciences.edu.
authors.forename: C Alix
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Timko
mesh_terms: D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition; D056344:Executive Function; D005215:Fasting / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D044342:Malnutrition; D009752:Nutritional Status; D013217:Starvation / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Cognition; Executive function; Fasting; Hunger; Memory; Psychomotor speed