I was invited to give a public lecture at The Storey in Lancaster as part of Lancaster University's Science and Technology Lecture Series. My talk was about the effects of different dietary choices on our health, and the New Year’s Resolutions we can make to start off 2020 as a healthy year for body and … Continue Reading about Public Lecture: NEWtritional Year’s Resolutions
Journal Articles
Sugar rush or sugar crash?: A meta-analysis of carbohydrate effects on mood
Mantantzis, K., Schlaghecken, F., Sunram-Lea, S-I., & Maylor, E. (2019). Sugar rush or sugar crash? A meta-analysis of carbohydrate effects on mood. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 101, 45-67.
The effect of carbohydrate (CHO) consumption on mood is at the center of a long-standing debate, with researchers reporting both mood improvements and decrements following CHO ingestion. As global consumption of sugar-sweetened products has sharply increased in recent years, examining the validity of claims of an association between CHOs and mood is of high importance. We … [Read more...] about Sugar rush or sugar crash?: A meta-analysis of carbohydrate effects on mood
Last in, first out: brain economy in times of limited resources
Sunram-Lea, S-I. (2017). Last in, first out: brain economy in times of limited resources. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology , 17(12), 2586-2596.
It has been argued that cognitive abilities that developed last ontogenetically are likely the first to become impaired when cognitive and/or physiological resources are compromised. In phylogeny as in ontogeny, the prefrontal cortex is a late developing region of the cortex. Late maturing areas of the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex are primarily involved in higher executive … [Read more...] about Last in, first out: brain economy in times of limited resources
A temporary deficiency in self-control: can heightened motivation overcome this effect?
Kelly, C., Crawford, T. J., Gowen, E., Richardson, K., & Sünram-Lea, S. I. (2017). A temporary deficiency in self-control: can heightened motivation overcome this effect? Psychophysiology, 54(5), 773-779.
Self-control is important for everyday life and involves behavioral regulation. Self-control requires effort, and when completing two successive self-control tasks, there is typically a temporary drop in performance in the second task. High self-reported motivation and being made self-aware somewhat counteract this effect-with the result that performance in the second task is … [Read more...] about A temporary deficiency in self-control: can heightened motivation overcome this effect?