Iron deficiency but not anemia affects cognition in Indian adolescents
Abstract
A quarter of the world’s population is thought to be deficient in iron. Though the functional effects of iron deficiency have been studied in infancy and adulthood, adolescence, a period of significant neural and behavioral maturation, has not received much attention. In this cross-sectional analysis of Indian adolescents in rural Maharashtra (n = 147; 12–16 y; 61 females), relations between baseline blood variables and performance on a test of simple reaction time (SRT, in ms, one of a set of five measures of perceptual and cognitive functioning) were examined. Iron status was defined according to stage of iron deficiency (iron-deficient anemic (IDA), iron-deficient (ID), iron sufficient (IS)). Those in the IDA and ID groups had longer RT than those in the IS group (p=0.005 and 0.013, respectively). SRT for individuals who were anemic but not ID did not differ from those of the IS group but were faster than those in the IDA and ID groups (both p
Citation
Scott, S.; Murray-Kolb, L.; Wenger, M.; Udipi, S.; Ghugre, P.; Haas, J. Iron deficiency but not anemia affects cognition in Indian adolescents. FASEB Journal (2013) 27 (Meeting Abstract Supplement) 845.8.
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Iron deficiency but not anemia affects cognition in Indian adolescents