Measuring the Effect of Carbohydrate Mouth Rinsing on Late Positive Potential Responses using Electroencephalogram (EEG)

The current study intended to advance comprehension regarding the impact affective neurobiological changes can have on cognition and athletic performance. Two primary objectives of the study sought to: 1) Further establish understanding of the mechanisms behind using carbohydrate mouth rinsing to enhance performance and 2) Provide additional support for particular unidentified oral receptors. Male and female University students (n=24) completed four experimental trials where solutions were mouth rinsed for 30 seconds (three x 10 seconds) prior to electroencephalogram (EEG) and affective picture processing (APP) testing. The solutions included water, taste-matched artificial sweetener, taste-matched and artificially sweetened maltodextrin, and taste-matched glucose. Following the rinsing bouts, participants viewed and categorized 60 randomized pictures (30 positive and 30 neutral) while late positive potential (LPP) EEG amplitudes and latencies were amassed for future analysis. After omitting four outliers, the midline-electrode Fz produced statistically significant (p=0.03) results when sorting and analyzing each solution independently for the positive and neutral picture sets. The relative difference between the positive and neutral LPP amplitudes as a function of solution was least pronounced for artificial sweetener (positive=-0.87 μV, neutral=-1.17 μV) and most clearly differentiated for maltodextrin (positive=-0.37 μV, neutral=-1.62 μV). The current study supports and augments previous research that suggests carbohydrate mouth rinsing utilizes central mediated mechanisms to enhance athletic performance. Additionally, the superior LPP activity exhibited by maltodextrin further supports the potential existence of an unidentified receptor within the oral cavity.