Auckland University. New-Zealand: The dietary supplement creatine can protect the brain when its oxygen
supply is reduced, a University of Auckland study has found.
The new study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, was led by
Dr Nick Gant along with Professor Winston Byblow, and PhD student Clare
Turner, all from the Faculty of Science, University of Auckland Centre
for Brain Research.
“The brain requires a constant supply of oxygen and is highly
vulnerable when this supply is reduced by injury or disease,” says Dr
Gant. “We set out to help improve the brain’s natural defences and think
we’ve discovered a way of doing this.”
The secret to creatine’s success is that it requires no oxygen to
make energy. The study found that creatine was stored in areas of the
brain that are easily oxygen deprived. "Athletes have been getting an
energy boost for their muscles from creatine for over 20 years," says Dr
Gant. "Creatine supplementation increases the amount of useable energy
stored in muscle and our research shows it has a similar effect within
the brain.”
The team used a combination of advanced neuroscience techniques to
study the brains of healthy adults. Participants inhaled air that
contained only half the normal amount of oxygen, equivalent to breathing
at an altitude of 5,500 meters (Mt Everest base camp). According to Ms
Turner, "The supplement increased the amount of creatine stored in the
brain by nine percent which prevented the decline in cognitive
performance that occurred with a placebo supplement. It also increased
neural excitability in parts of the brain that control movement.”
The ability to sustain attention was the area of mental performance
that was improved most by creatine. “This is encouraging”, says
Professor Byblow. “Attentional capacity, or the ability to sustain
focus, is the most commonly impaired process with exposure to high
altitude and among survivors of brain injury.”
The study is the first demonstration in humans that shows a short
six-day course of this widely available dietary supplement can be
neuroprotective. According to Dr Gant, “The study opens up a range of
therapeutic applications for this supplement. Neurodegenerative diseases
cause energetic vulnerability for which there are currently no
effective therapeutic strategies. Also, mountaineers, technical divers
and those playing sports where head injury is a risk may be able to
protect themselves with creatine supplementation.”
The team is currently investigating creatine as a treatment for
concussion and exploring if creatine can help improve the brain’s
ability to form new connections.