Creatine Supplementation and Brain Health.
Hamilton RoschelBruno GualanoSergej M. OstojicEric S. RawsonPublished in: Nutrients (2021)
There is a robust and compelling body of evidence supporting the ergogenic and therapeutic role of creatine supplementation in muscle. Beyond these well-described effects and mechanisms, there is literature to suggest that creatine may also be beneficial to brain health (e.g., cognitive processing, brain function, and recovery from trauma). This is a growing field of research, and the purpose of this short review is to provide an update on the effects of creatine supplementation on brain health in humans. There is a potential for creatine supplementation to improve cognitive processing, especially in conditions characterized by brain creatine deficits, which could be induced by acute stressors (e.g., exercise, sleep deprivation) or chronic, pathologic conditions (e.g., creatine synthesis enzyme deficiencies, mild traumatic brain injury, aging, Alzheimer's disease, depression). Despite this, the optimal creatine protocol able to increase brain creatine levels is still to be determined. Similarly, supplementation studies concomitantly assessing brain creatine and cognitive function are needed. Collectively, data available are promising and future research in the area is warranted.
Keyphrases
- resting state
- white matter
- healthcare
- public health
- functional connectivity
- mental health
- cerebral ischemia
- systematic review
- randomized controlled trial
- traumatic brain injury
- health information
- skeletal muscle
- squamous cell carcinoma
- depressive symptoms
- liver failure
- radiation therapy
- mild traumatic brain injury
- electronic health record
- social media
- lymph node
- human health
- artificial intelligence
- deep learning
- cognitive decline
- climate change
- resistance training