Does Increased Egg Consumption Have Cognitive and Neural Benefits in Food Insecure, At-risk Adolescents?

Overview

Quality nutrient intake is essential for proper development and well-being of children in all aspects of health, including cognitive development. Eggs are of particular interest based on potential cognitive and neurological benefits due in part to significant concentrations of choline and lutein. While overall, choline and lutein have received considerable attention in the literature in relation to cognition and brain function, most studies involving intake in young adults have had short intervention periods ranging from 90 minutes to 3 days. Food insecurity has been associated with decreased academic performance. Given that populations with food insecurity have limited resources to direct towards nutrition, identifying how a widely available, highly versatile and largely affordable source of nutrients (i.e. eggs) may have favorable impacts on cognitive function and brain function will be valuable in informing public health recommendations in this at-risk population. As such the investigators will examine whether an increased egg consumption dietary prescription can have positive effects on functional activity (i.e. fMRI) during an Eriksen-Flanker task, anatomical changes in the brain (i.e. DTI, MRI), and cognitive abilities as measured by the Stop Signal Reaction Time task, Operation Span task, Raven's Progressive Matrices and the Boston Naming Task.

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: Randomized
    • Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Other
    • Masking: None (Open Label)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: March 1, 2021

Interventions

  • Other: Increased Egg Consumption
    • Subjects will be instructed to use a weekly food purchase supplement for inclusion of 2 additional eggs per day to be added to subject’s typical daily diet.
  • Other: Typical diet
    • Subjects will be instructed to maintain their current dietary patterns.

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Active Comparator: Typical Diet (TD)
    • Participants will be instructed to continue habitual dietary intake.
  • Experimental: Increased Egg Consumption (IE)
    • Participants will be prescribed an additional 2 eggs per day to their diet.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Comparison of functional activity during Eriksen-Flanker Task
    • Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 12 weeks (post-intervention)
    • Changes in regional brain activation during an fMRI scan.
  • Comparison of grey matter anatomical change
    • Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 12 weeks (post-intervention)
    • Grey density as measured by MRI
  • Comparison of white matter connectivity change
    • Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 12 weeks (post-intervention)
    • White matter connectivity as measured by diffusion tensor imaging
  • Comparison of cognitive battery performance change
    • Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 12 weeks (post-intervention)
    • Cognitive performance as measured by stop signal reaction time task
  • Comparison of cognitive battery performance change
    • Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 12 weeks (post-intervention)
    • Cognitive performance as measured by operation span task
  • Comparison of cognitive battery performance change
    • Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 12 weeks (post-intervention)
    • Cognitive performance as measured by Raven’s Progressive Matrices
  • Comparison of cognitive battery performance change
    • Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 12 weeks (post-intervention)
    • Cognitive performance as measured by Boston Naming Task
  • Comparison of Eriksen-Flanker Task performance change
    • Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 12 weeks (post-intervention)
    • Eriksen-Flanker task performance compared using the drift diffusion model

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age: 13-19 years. – Household has food security status of low or very low as designated by scoring 2-6 raw score using the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module: Six-Item Short Form. Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants unable or unwilling to provide informed consent. – Participants with motor, visual or hearing impairment. – Participants with current severe psychiatric illnesses (e.g. psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, depression) – Participants with history of psychiatric hospitalization. – Participants with habitual egg consumption (past 3 months) of 4 eggs per week or more – Unable or unwilling to consume required study meals for any reason (e.g. dietary restrictions, allergies, or aversions to any of the food items used in the study). – History of liver or kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, hematologic disease, metabolic disease, Epilepsy (or other seizure disorder) or malignant tumor – Currently taking (or have taken in the past 4 weeks) any anti-anxiolytic, anti-epileptic, or anti-depression medications – Currently taking (or have taken in the past 4 weeks) any proton pump inhibitor medications – History of any cognitive disorder, medical and/or psychological conditions and/or medications affecting cognition – Participants with contraindications for MRI scanning. 1. aneurism clips 2. any implanted medical devices (pacemaker, neurostimulator) 3. known pregnancy 4. shrapnel in body or any injury to eye involving metal 5. any ferrous metal in body

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 13 Years

Maximum Age: 19 Years

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • Texas Tech University
  • Collaborator
    • American Egg Board
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Principal Investigator: Martin Binks, Associate Professor – Texas Tech University
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Martin Binks, PhD, Principal Investigator, Texas Tech University- Department of Nutritional Sciences

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