Acute hyperglycemia and spatial working memory in adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Objective: To investigate the effect of acute hyperglycemia on brain function in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Research Design and Methods: Twenty participants with type 1 diabetes (T1D) (age 14.64 ±1.78 years) and 20 age-matched healthy controls (age 14.40± 2.82 years) performed two functional magnetic resonance imaging sessions. Participants with T1D performed the first scanning session under euglycemic and the second under hyperglycemic clamp (20 mmol/L (360 mg/dL)).

Results: Lower spatial working memory (sWM) capacity during acute hyperglycemia and significant differences in activation of regions of interest during different stages of the spatial working memory task (p=0.014) were observed.

Conclusions: Acute hyperglycemia negatively affected sWM capacity in adolescents with T1D, which is relevant for daily functioning and academic performance.