The Effects of Intragastric Administration of Nutrients on Executive Control in Healthy Subjects.

The previous research by one of our members in the research team (H. Miller) suggests a possible influence of oral nutrients intake of certain fat or carbohydrates (glucose, fructose) on executive control. On the other hand, another previous study from our group (L. Van Oudenhove) suggests a subliminal influence of intragastric administration of fatty acids on subjective and neural responses to negative emotion induction. The purpose of this study therefore is to examine the effect of intragastric administration of certain fatty acids and carbohydrates on executive control in healthy volunteers. Therefore one group of healthy volunteers are invited to the study. The participants will be randomly administered one of the three fatty acid emulsions or placebo via a nasogastric tube in each of the visits. After the exposure period, participants will use a computer to perform there different tasks to measure executive control. During each study visit, regular measurements of emotion, physical sensations, as well as blood glucose will be assessed. Furthermore, an electrocardiogram will be continuously recorded for the calculation of vagal function.