Research Article

Glucose enhances newborn memory for spoken words

  1. Pamela Horne1,
  2. Ronald G. Barr1,2,*,
  3. Grace Valiante1,
  4. Philip R. Zelazo3,
  5. Simon N. Young4

Article first published online: 2 OCT 2006

DOI: 10.1002/dev.20172

Issue

Developmental Psychobiology

Developmental Psychobiology

Volume 48, Issue 7, pages 574–582, November 2006

Additional Information

How to Cite

Horne, P., Barr, R. G., Valiante, G., Zelazo, P. R. and Young, S. N. (2006), Glucose enhances newborn memory for spoken words. Dev. Psychobiol., 48: 574–582. doi: 10.1002/dev.20172

Author Information

  1. 1

    McGill University—Montreal Children's Hospital Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

  2. 2

    Child and Family Research Institute, BC Children's Hospital and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

  3. 3

    Department of Psychology, McGill University and Center for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montreal Quebec, Canada

  4. 4

    Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

*McGill University—Montreal Children's Hospital Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 2 OCT 2006
  2. Article first published online: 2 OCT 2006
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 31 MAY 2006
  4. Manuscript Received: 5 JUN 2005

Funded by

  • Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)
  • Howard Webster Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Advanced Research

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Keywords:

  • memory;
  • auditory memory;
  • newborns;
  • infancy;
  • glucose;
  • feeding;
  • habituation;
  • information processing

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. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 48: 574–582, 2006.

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