Effects of creatine supplementation on memory in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Prokopidis K, Giannos P, Triantafyllidis KK, Kechagias KS, Forbes SC, Candow DG
Nutrition reviews · 41 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Meta-analysis (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2022-08-19 · Nutr Rev · vol. 81 · issue 4 · pp. 416–427
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Cited
- 71 citations · more than 88% of similar papers · 1.9× the field average
- References
- 47 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Muscle metabolism and nutrition · Biochemical effects in animals · Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Keywords
- Creatine, Meta-analysis, Placebo, Randomized controlled trial, Medicine, Internal medicine, Strictly standardized mean difference, Cochrane Library, Physical therapy, Creatine kinase, Pathology, Alternative medicine
- MeSH
- humans, creatine, cognition, dietary supplements, aged, randomized controlled trials as topic
6 authors
From GB, CA
- Konstantinos Prokopidis · correspondingUniversity of Liverpool
- Panagiotis GiannosImperial College London
- Konstantinos Katsikas TriantafyllidisMusgrove Park Hospital; Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust; Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
- Konstantinos S. KechagiasChelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Imperial College London
- Scott C. ForbesBrandon University
- Darren Glenn CandowUniversity of Regina
Abstract
Context
From an energy perspective, the brain is very metabolically demanding. It is well documented that creatine plays a key role in brain bioenergetics. There is some evidence that creatine supplementation can augment brain creatine stores, which could increase memory.
Objective
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to determine the effects of creatine supplementation on memory performance in healthy humans.
Data sources
The literature was searched through the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases from inception until September 2021.
Data extraction
Twenty-three eligible RCTs were initially identified. Ten RCTs examining the effect of creatine supplementation compared with placebo on measures of memory in healthy individuals met the inclusion criteria for systematic review, 8 of which were included in the meta-analysis.
Data analysis
Overall, creatine supplementation improved measures of memory compared with placebo (standard mean difference [SMD] = 0.29, 95%CI, 0.04-0.53; I2 = 66%; P = 0.02). Subgroup analyses revealed a significant improvement in memory in older adults (66-76 years) (SMD = 0.88; 95%CI, 0.22-1.55; I2 = 83%; P = 0.009) compared with their younger counterparts (11-31 years) (SMD = 0.03; 95%CI, -0.14 to 0.20; I2 = 0%; P = 0.72). Creatine dose (≈ 2.2-20 g/d), duration of intervention (5 days to 24 weeks), sex, or geographical origin did not influence the findings.
Conclusion
Creatine supplementation enhanced measures of memory performance in healthy individuals, especially in older adults (66-76 years).
Systematic review registration
PROSPERO registration no. 42021281027.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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