Preliminary studies have claimed that short term fasting would negatively affect school performance and cognition. In contrast some other studies have reported not important decline in cognition and executive function as a result of fasting. Also limited attention was generally devoted to dietetic regimens, nutritional status and body weight. Yet neuroscience and neuro-cognitive aspects of acute hunger on the electroencephalogram and differences between obese and non-obese cases is not well understood. Hence, we decided to design and perform a case study in a more controlled situation similar to reality. Therefore, we performed several examinations including subjective tests (for eating status) and objective tests (cognitive tests such as Stroop effect and Sternberg search and electroencephalogram measures such as steady-state visual evoked potential and auditory steady-state responses) for an obese and a non-obese academic case before and after a simple breakfast. The results showed that the breakfast effects on the neuro-cognitive functions depend on either obesity status, nutritional status of the case or the type of cognitive task (visual or auditory). This paper would open a new insight to answer some important questions about the neuro-cognitive implications of fasting and feeding in obese and non-obese human cases.
Body Weight ; Breakfast ; Cognition ; Eating ; Electroencephalography ; Evoked Potentials, Visual ; Executive Function ; Fasting* ; Humans ; Hunger ; Neurosciences ; Nutritional Status ; Obesity ; Stroop Test

PURPOSE: The Pediatric Lower Urinary Tract Scoring System (PLUTSS) is a standardized questionnaire used for screening and evaluation of the response of children with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) to therapy. We presumed that adding the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL) and bladder volume wall index (BVWI) to the PLUTSS would increase its validity in the detection of children with LUTS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty-two children aged 5 to 15 years with LUTS were enrolled in the study. Seventy-two healthy, age-matched children without urinary complaints were considered as controls. The PLUTSS and CBCL were filled out for all children. Sonography was performed to measure BVWI. Chi-square test and likelihood ratio were used to compare frequencies, receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the correlation, and Cohen's kappa was used to measure the agreement between variables. p-values <0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: Behavior problems were significantly more common in children with LUTS than in healthy children (p<0.05). The frequency of thick, thin, and normal BVWIs did not differ significantly in the two groups (p>0.05). ROC analysis showed that there was no correlation between PLUTSS, CBCL, and BVWI in either the LUTS subgroup or in the controls (p>0.05). The PLUTSS had the highest sensitivity and specificity, and adding the two other tests decreased its validity for the diagnosis of children with LUTS. CONCLUSIONS: The PLUTSS by itself was the best predictor of LUTS. The CBCL and BVWI were not helpful in making a diagnosis; however, the CBCL was useful in the detection of behavior problems in children with non-monosymptomatic enuresis.
Aged ; Child ; Child Behavior ; Enuresis ; Humans ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Mass Screening ; Pediatrics ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract