Correlations Amongst Mental Health, Cognitive Flexibility, and Zinc Status
Keywords:
Anorexia Nervosa, Eating Disorders, Mental Health, Cognitive Flexibility, Zinc, Zinc Taste TestAbstract
Background: Cognitive flexibility impairment has been seen in both anorexia nervosa (AN) and commonly comorbid disorders, as have symptoms overlapping with those of zinc depletion. Zinc depletion and AN risk groups also have distinct overlap, and zinc has been found to play a role in neuroplasticity, which affects cognitive flexibility. Zinc supplementation has shown benefit in AN treatment, however the mechanisms for this benefit are unclear and have not been explored in detail.
Research Question and Aims: The primary aim was to investigate correlations amongst mental health status, cognitive flexibility, and zinc status in order to better understand whether zinc supplementation benefits in anorexia nervosa (AN) are due to metabolic alterations or to mental health changes which in turn impact behaviour. The secondary aim was to better characterize the Bryce-Smith zinc taste test (ZTT) in order to understand its potential as a clinical measurement method for zinc status.
Hypotheses: In regards to the primary aim, it was hypothesized that lower zinc status (as measured by the ZTT and reported symptoms of zinc depletion) would be associated with decreased cognitive flexibility measures and increased depressive, anxiety, obsessive compulsive, and eating disorder symptoms. In regards to the secondary aim, it was hypothesized that ZTT results would positively correlate with reported seasoning usage and reported zinc depletion symptoms.
Methods: Participants were recruited via the University of Calgary’s Department of Psychology Research Participation System. The Perceived Stress Scale, Mental Health Inventory-38 anxiety subscale, Inventory of Depressive Symptoms-SR30, Compulsiveness Inventory, Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-R, and Eating Attitudes Test-26 were administered to all participants to quantify mental health status, while Trail Making Tests A/B, Berg’s Card Sorting Test, and the Haptic Illusion test were used to measure cognitive flexibility. The Bryce-Smith ZTT, and a zinc-related factors questionnaire were also administered.
Results: 12 females aged 18-50 were tested and results analyzed using Spearman’s and Mann-Whitney U tests. No significant correlations were found between ZTT scores and measures used; however trends in directions that would support the hypothesis were observed.
Conclusions: Due to small sample size and observed trends, it is suggested that the study be extended to expand the number and diversity of participants in order to better determine potential correlations and significance. It is also proposed that a rough estimate of intake of high-zinc foods (or another measure of zinc status) be used for better comparison.
References
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6. Cunnane SC. Zinc: Clinical and Biochemical Significance. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 1988.
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