Brawn for the Brain

Students cramming for exams and others seeking a boost in
short-term mental acuity might benefit from an energy supplement favored
by weight lifters. Creatine is an amino acid found in muscle cells.
Because it plays a role in providing bursts of strength, creatine might
also boost brainpower for quick thinking, speculated an Australian
research team led by researcher Caroline Rae at the University of
Sydney.

In a recent study, Rae gave 45 vegetarians five grams of creatine
per day or a placebo, then compared their before-and-after scores on
memory and intelligence tests. After six weeks, the creatine group was
better able to repeat long sequences of numbers backward, and fared
better on problem-solving tests performed under time constraints. The
study used vegetarians because creatine is a component of meat, and Rae
wanted everyone to get the same dose. That dose, comparable to the amount
used by bodybuilders, is equivalent to eating about four pounds of meat
daily.

Creatine may also help protect the brain from injury. In another
study, Stephen Scheff, professor of neurobiology at the University of
Kentucky, fed creatine to mice and rats before subjecting them to head
injuries mimicking human concussions. The longer the animals had been
taking creatine, the less brain damage they suffered.

How creatine impacts the brain isn’t yet clear. It has no
effect on Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a
team of Dutch researchers reported last year. And a study conducted four
years ago at the University of New Mexico found no correlation between
creatine and IQ.

Rae is not surprised. People could have high brain creatine levels,
and still do badly on tests, she says. “But if they increased their
[natural] level, they would do better.”