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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Microbiome and Metabolism Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #151172
Title: BLINKING, MENTAL ARITHMETIC, AND MORNING NUTRITION

Author
item PIVIK, T - ACNC
item DYKMAN, ROSCOE - ACNC

Submitted to: Society for Neuroscience Abstracts and Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/2002
Publication Date: 11/4/2002
Citation: PIVIK, T.R., DYKMAN, R.A. Blinking, mental arithmetic, and morning nutrition. Program No. 182.10. Abstract Viewer and Itinerary Planner. Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience, 2002. CD-ROM.

Interpretive Summary: The USDA school breakfast and school lunch program has been in existence for years and but never tested for the effects on cognitive functions, attention or learning. The ACNC is interested in both evaluating such effects and determining the dietary composition, timing of eating in relationship to learning tasks and the food intake dynamics on central nervous system function of school age children. Spontaneous closing and opening the eye, eye blinking, is a complex process controlled by the central nervous system and has been used assess brain function and responses of the brain to various stimuli. Although the eye blink has been studied in adults to assess brain responses to various stimuli, children have not been studied with similar rigor. Since the eye blink is an easy, useful and non-invasive measure of central nervous system (CNS) function in adults, we examined the relationships among spontaneous eye blinks, performance on a mental arithmetic task, and morning nutrition (eating or skipping breakfast) in healthy 8-11 year old children to determine if it would be useful for future studies on diet, nutrition and CNS function. For both groups, eye blinks occurred at times which minimized interference with the task, and together the timing of blinks and performance measures suggest that relationships between blinks and information similar to in adults and children. These results indicate that the eye blink can be useful in the study of diet and nutrition on CNS development and function, and the suggest the data on adults may be useful in predicting outcomes in children.

Technical Abstract: Eyeblinks and nutritional status have been related independently to information processing variables.This study examined associations among spontaneous eyeblinks, stimulus-response parameters in a mental arithmetic task, and morning nutrition. Healthy children (8-11 yrs. old; IQ >80) were tested the morning following overnight fasting, first while fasted, then after eating a School Breakfast (n=19) or while continuing to fast (n=21). Blinks were recorded (vertical EOG) while subjects performed a mental arithmetic task. Problem-answer (3 possible) pairs [n=150; addition or subtraction of 1-2 digit integers] were sequentially displayed on a monitor (.2 sec each). Subjects pressed a button indicating their answer. Artifact-free recordings were digitized and analyzed off-line for blink onset during the answer periods.Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA with post-hoc t-tests. Groups exhibited similar blink latency relationships across test sessions with blinks generally occurring: within 1 sec after problem presentation; earlier during the second relative to the first half of each session (ns), and during the second relative to the first test session (p<.01). Reaction times decreased within and across test sessions, suggesting that blink latency variations were not fatigue-related. There were no significant group-by-treatment effects. The results indicate robust associations between blinks and stimulus response processes generally consistent with those reported in adults. These relationships were not significantly affected by variations in morning nutrition employed in this study.