Assignment 2: LASA 1: The Prospectus

Running Head: FOOD DEPRIVATION 1

FOOD DEPRIVATION 4

References

Carla Fonseca

Professor Carmel Phelan

Argosy University

July 12, 2016

Food deprivation at different levels affects concentration, intellectual, and cognitive abilities.

Crumpton, E., Wine, D. B., & Drenick, E. J. (1966). Starvation: Stress or Satisfaction? Journal of the American Medical Association

The authors took time to analyze whether starvation was satisfactory or stressful as far as the ability of perseverance on concentration is concerned. The absolute reasoning would be that people would highly underperform especially on tasks that require concentrations when they are restricted from taking food for longer periods of time. This means that they would take less time working on tasks that require perseverance. This argument is well documented in the study, with various discussions regarding the effects of food consumption on the performance of an average person. In addition, the brain controls how humans consume food through monitoring the glucose levels in the blood. However, the studies conducted showed that this only occurs during the longer periods of time and not for the short periods. The researchers found no reasoning impairment for obese persons during the food deprivation period. Therefore, using these discussions, it is important to note that food deprivation can sometimes be helpful for some persons who need to maintain their blood glucose levels and fat levels in the body.

Green, M., Elliman, N. and Rogers, P. (1997). The effects of food deprivation and incentive motivation on blood glucose levels and cognitive function. NCBI

The authors mainly focused on the relationships between food deprivation and other factors such as blood glucose levels, cognitive processing efficiency and sympathetic arousal. The authors relate these factors in order to understand the role of cognitive and other abilities on task performance when food is absent for shorter and longer periods. From the study, it was found that the glucose levels were lower due to little food getting into the system. However, there was little or no negative effects of deprivation of food on the performance of tasks. In other words, the study reveals that the brain does not become highly vulnerable when a person is subjected to a short deprivation of food. As a matter of fact, the study revealed that in some occasions, the recognition memory increased during food deprivation. Therefore, this study is helpful in understanding that concentration is minimally affected when a person does not eat for a short period of time.

Tian, H., Aziz, A.R., Png, W. Wahid, M.F., Yeo, D. and Png, A.C. (2011). Effects of Fasting During Ramadan Month on Cognitive Function in Muslim Athletes. Asian J Sports Med

Tian mainly focus on the effects of fasting during the month of Ramadhan on the intellectual and reasoning abilities in athletes taking part in the religious activity. The researchers are interested in the performance of these athletes especially during this period and check on whether this has any effect on how they respond to issues that require strong cognitive skills. Ramadhan is highly practiced by Muslims who are able-bodied and it involves fasting for a period of about 12 to 14 hours a day – no meal nor water is taken during this time – specifically during the day. However, they replenish their body food reserves by taking a meal in the evening. The article also discusses the effects of fasting on the body, especially the rate of heartbeats and other physiological actions. However, the major point is that these actions are highly affected by the functioning of the brain and therefore it is an important source for understanding the cognitive effects of fasting. The results prove that fasting has little effects on the cognitive ability of a person especially during the period when there is food deprivation.

References

Crumpton, E., Wine, D. B., & Drenick, E. J. (1966). Starvation: Stress or Satisfaction? Journal of the American Medical Association

Green, M., Elliman, N. and Rogers, P. (1997). The effects of food deprivation and incentive motivation on blood glucose levels and cognitive function. NCBI

Tian, H., Aziz, A.R., Png, W. Wahid, M.F., Yeo, D. and Png, A.C. (2011). Effects of Fasting During Ramadan Month on Cognitive Function in Muslim Athletes. Asian J Sports Med