Impact of a 4-week time-restricted eating (16:8) intervention on working memory and attentional control in adult women: A randomized controlled pilot

Time-restricted eating (TRE), a form of intermittent fasting, limits daily food intake to a specific window. This randomized-controlled pilot study examined the potential of a 4-week 16:8 TRE regimen (16 h fasting, 8 h eating) as a behavioural intervention on cognitive performance, well-being, and body weight among healthy women. Participants were assigned to either a Fasting group (N = 23) or a Control group (N = 20) maintaining their usual diet. Cognitive performance was assessed weekly using the Symmetry Span task (working memory) and the Stroop Squared, Simon Squared, and Flanker Squared tasks (attentional control), along with well-being and bodyweight. Working memory and attentional control improved across time, but no significant differences were observed between groups. The Fasting group showed a statistically significant reduction in BMI compared with controls, with no group differences in reported adverse events. These findings suggest that short-term 16:8 TRE was feasible and well tolerated in this pilot sample and was associated with reduced BMI, with no evidence of TRE-specific improvement or impairment in the tested cognitive functions.