Single-Dose Creatine Reduces Sleep Deprivation-Induced Deterioration in Cognitive Performance.

Background/

Objectives

Creatine is a supplement that, beyond its physiological effects, has been shown to have positive effects on cognitive abilities. In our previous study, we showed that a single dose of 0.35 g/kg creatine induces changes in brain metabolism during sleep deprivation and reduces deterioration in cognitive performance. The present study investigates whether supplementation of a lower dose is associated with cognitive effects during sleep deprivation, focusing exclusively on cognitive performance outcomes.

Methods

Twenty-nine healthy subjects performed cognitive tests at the evening baseline and 3, 5.5, and 7.5 h after receiving a single dose of creatine monohydrate (0.2 g/kg) or a placebo during a total of 21 h of sleep deprivation (SD).

Results

The results show a mitigating effect of creatine on sleep deprivation-induced deterioration in logical and numerical tasks, language-related processing speed, and the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT). Compared to males, females benefit more in logic, PVT and processing speed in language and logic tasks.

Conclusions

Our results show that a dose of 0.2 g/kg creatine is associated with a reduced deterioration in cognitive performance during sleep deprivation. Although the effect is less pronounced than with a high dose of 0.35 g/kg, there is still an improvement of up to 12%.