New Citicoline Cognitive Study Focuses on Healthy Subjects

Healthy, middle-aged women who supplemented with citicoline experienced improvements in attention, focus, and recall, according to a peer-reviewed study conducted by University of Utah scientists and published in the June issue of Food and Nutrition Sciences.

Citicoline is a natural substance found in every cell of the body and is especially vital to brain health.

In the double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 60 healthy women between the ages of 40 and 60 took either placebo or a 250- or 500-mg dose of citicoline for 28 days. According to researchers, compared to the placebo group, those taking 250 mg showed improved performance on cognitive function tests, while those taking 500 mg showed improvement and made significantly fewer errors on tests.

Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd, PhD, one of the study’s authors, said that it’s unique that this study focused on a healthy population, compared to prior research on patients with “cognitive deficits associated with illness or injury.”

“To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effects of low doses of citicoline on cognitive performance in healthy female adults,” wrote the study authors. “Practical application of this research includes the possible use of citicoline supplementation to improve cognitive deficits associated with normal aging, stress, and psychiatric disorders.”

The citicoline used in the study was Cognizin, a branded, highly stable, and GRAS ingredient from ingredients supplier Kyowa Hakko USA (New York City).