Influence of Chocolate With Plant Additives on Episodic Memory in Healthy Subjects Experiencing Test Anxiety

Influence of Chocolate With Plant Additives on Episodic Memory in Healthy Subjects Experiencing Test Anxiety

Randomized, blind parallel group design. Single intake of 55 g high Epicatechin /Melissa dark chocolate containing 160 mg Epicatechin per 55 g serving or single intake of 55 g low Epicatechin/ oat bran white chocolate containing < 0,00045 mg Epicatechin per 55 g serving.

A Total of 128 participants, 64 in each group, approx. equal number of male and female. There will be replacement of Drop-Outs until data from 128 participants are completed.

The primary endpoints will be performance in a pictorial memory task and a verbal memory task .

The secondary endpoints will be performance in a working memory test, Saliva cortisol, Visual analog scales assessing, anxiety, confidence, interference, solicitude, and excitement.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy by history
• normotensive (BP between 90/60 mmHg and 140/90 mmHg)
• BMI between 18 and < 30 kg/m2
• male or female
• aged between 18 and 30 years
• native or fluent German-speaking
• Prüfungsangstfragebogen (PAF) total or subscale interference score T value > 60

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known hypersensitivity or allergy to cocoa, Melissa, oat, vanillin, milk, soja, nuts
• gluten intolerance
• lactose intolerance
• acute or chronic psychiatric disorder including drug or alcohol abuse
• women who are pregnant or breast feeding
• any clinically significant concomitant disease states (e.g., renal failure, hepatic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease etc., infections)
• known or suspected non-compliance
• smoking (> 5 cigarettes per day)
• participation in one of our previous studies using the same memory tests in the past 2 years
• participation in a study with investigational drug within the 30 days preceding and during the present study
• long-term medication within last 3 months (oral contraceptives are disregarded)