Mild dehydration impairs cognitive performance and mood of men
Open accessAbstract
The present study assessed the effects of mild dehydration on cognitive performance and mood of young males. A total of twenty-six men (age 20·0 (sd 0·3) years) participated in three randomised, single-blind, repeated-measures trials: exercise-induced dehydration plus a diuretic (DD; 40 mg furosemide); exercise-induced dehydration plus placebo containing no diuretic (DN); exercise while maintaining euhydration plus placebo (EU; control condition). Each trial included three 40 min treadmill walks at 5·6 km/h, 5 % grade in a 27·7°C environment. A comprehensive computerised six-task cognitive test battery, the profile of mood states questionnaire and the symptom questionnaire (headache, concentration and task difficulty) were administered during each trial. Paired t tests compared the DD and DN trials resulting in >1 % body mass loss (mean 1·59 (sd 0·42) %) with the volunteer's EU trial (0·01 (sd 0·03) %). Dehydration degraded specific aspects of cognitive performance: errors increased on visual vigilance (P = 0·048) and visual working memory response latency slowed (P = 0·021). Fatigue and tension/anxiety increased due to dehydration at rest (P = 0·040 and 0·029) and fatigue during exercise (P = 0·026). Plasma osmolality increased due to dehydration (P < 0·001) but resting gastrointestinal temperature was not altered (P = 0·238). In conclusion, mild dehydration without hyperthermia in men induced adverse changes in vigilance and working memory, and increased tension/anxiety and fatigue.
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Using more precise markers of dehydration, others have found that cognitive function impairment is associated with hypovolemia, further compounded by heat stress and physical activity.
“Using more precise markers of dehydration, others have found that cognitive function impairment is associated with hypovolemia, further compounded by heat stress and physical activity [23,50].”
From Reduced cognitive function during a heat wave among residents of non-air-conditioned buildings: An observational study of young adults in the summer of 2016 (2018) · cites this paper as [50]
The Abstract reports that mild dehydration impaired vigilance and working memory in young men. It does not establish that hypovolemia was the associated factor: the reported measures include body-mass loss and plasma osmolality, not a demonstrated link between reduced blood volume and cognition. The paper also says earlier studies combined dehydration with heat and exercise, making their separate effects difficult to determine; its own finding was obtained without hyperthermia, not evidence that heat stress and activity compounded the impairment. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- Ganio, M. S., Armstrong, L. E., Casa, D. J., McDermott, B. P., Lee, E. C., Yamamoto, L. M., Marzano, S., Lopez, R. M., Jimenez, L., Le Bellego, L., Chevillotte, E., & Lieberman, H. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Connecticut (US)
- Danone (France) (FR)
- U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Armstrong, Lawrence E.
- ORCID
- Venue
- British Journal of Nutrition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2011-06-07
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1535-1543
- ISSN
- 0007-1145 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2662
- OpenAlex
- W2151148167
- Cited by
- 316
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 11.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal Of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Danone
- University of South Florida
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
- Keywords
- mild dehydration, cognitive performance, mood, exercise-induced dehydration, furosemide, visual vigilance, visual working memory, fatigue, tension-anxiety, plasma osmolality, gastrointestinal temperature, heat stress, young men
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Cognition, Dehydration, Humans, Male, Placebos, Task Performance and Analysis, Exercise, Single-Blind Method, Cross-Over Studies
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