Mental Performance and Sport: Caffeine and Co-consumed Bioactive Ingredients.

The plant defence compound caffeine is widely consumed as a performance enhancer in a sporting context, with potential benefits expected in both physiological and psychological terms. However, although caffeine modestly but consistently improves alertness and fatigue, its effects on mental performance are largely restricted to improved attention or concentration. It has no consistent effect within other cognitive domains that are important to sporting performance, including working memory, executive function and long-term memory.

Acute cognitive performance and mood effects of coffee berry and apple extracts: A randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover study in healthy humans.

Polyphenols from coffee berry (chlorogenic acid) and apple (flavanol) have been shown to improve mood and increase cerebral blood flow in healthy humans. These effects may underpin the cognitive effects of polyphenols seen previously. The aim of the present paper was to extend previous research by investigating the effects of coffee berry at high and low doses when combined with apple extract on cognitive performance and mood.

The Acute and Chronic Cognitive Effects of a Sage Extract: A Randomized, Placebo Controlled Study in Healthy Humans.

The sage () plant contains a host of terpenes and phenolics which interact with mechanisms pertinent to brain function and improve aspects of cognitive performance. However, previous studies in humans have looked at these phytochemicals in isolation and following acute consumption only. A preclinical in vivo study in rodents, however, has demonstrated improved cognitive outcomes following 2-week consumption of Cognivia, a proprietary extract of both polyphenols and terpenoids, suggesting that a combination of phytochemicals from sage might be more efficacious over a longer period of time.

A Randomized, Crossover Study of the Acute Cognitive and Cerebral Blood Flow Effects of Phenolic, Nitrate and Botanical Beverages in Young, Healthy Humans.

Background: In whole foods, polyphenols exist alongside a wide array of other potentially bioactive phytochemicals. Yet, investigations of the effects of combinations of polyphenols with other phytochemicals are limited.

Objective: The current study investigated the effects of combining extracts of beetroot, ginseng and sage with phenolic-rich apple, blueberry and coffee berry extracts.

Acute Effects of a Polyphenol-Rich Leaf Extract of L. (Zynamite) on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Study.

Extracts made from the leaves of the mango food plant ( L., ) have a long history of medicinal usage, most likely due to particularly high levels of the polyphenol mangiferin. In rodent models, oral mangiferin protects cognitive function and brain tissue from a number of challenges and modulates cerebro-electrical activity.

Acute and Chronic Effects of Green Oat ( Extract on Cognitive Function and Mood during a Laboratory Stressor in Healthy Adults: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study in Healthy Humans.

Green oat () extracts contain several groups of potentially psychoactive phytochemicals. Previous research has demonstrated improvements in cognitive function following a single dose of these extracts, but not following chronic supplementation. Additionally, whilst green oat extracts contain phytochemicals that may improve mood or protect against stress, for instance species-specific triterpene saponins, to date this possibility has not been examined.

The Acute and Chronic Cognitive and Cerebral Blood Flow Effects of a (Greek Mountain Tea) Extract: A Double Blind, Randomized, Placebo Controlled, Parallel Groups Study in Healthy Humans.

Background: The presence of polyphenols such as hydroxy-cinnamic acids and flavonoids in (Greek mountain tea) are likely responsible for the cognitive and mood effects of its consumption and this could be underpinned by the ability of such polyphenols to prevent monoamine neurotransmitter reuptake and to increase cerebral blood flow (CBF).

Objective: The current study extends the small amount of literature in humans by assessing both cognitive and mood outcomes in a sample of older adults, as well as blood pressure (BP) and CBF, in a subsample, utilizing near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

Design: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel groups trial randomized = 155, 50⁻70-year-old male and female participants who were assessed for the cognitive ( = 140), mood ( = 142), BP ( = 133) and CBF ( = 57) effects of two doses of Greek mountain tea (475 and 950 mg) as well as an active control of 240 mg , and a placebo control, following acute consumption (Day 1) and following a month-long consumption period (Day 28).

Cognitive and Mood Effects of a Nutrient Enriched Breakfast Bar in Healthy Adults: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Groups Study.

Objectives: Few previous studies have assessed the effects of concomitant administration of multiple potentially psychoactive nutrients.

Methods: 95 healthy adult participants consumed either a nutrient enriched breakfast bar (containing α-Linolenic acid, l-tyrosine, l-theanine, vitamins, minerals and 21.5 mg of caffeine) or an isocaloric, macronutrient matched control bar for 56 days.

Potential benefits of phytochemicals against Alzheimer's disease.

Our current therapeutic drugs for Alzheimer's disease are predominantly derived from the alkaloid class of plant phytochemicals. These drugs, such as galantamine and rivastigmine, attenuate the decline in the cholinergic system but, as the alkaloids occupy the most dangerous end of the phytochemical spectrum (indeed they function as feeding deterrents and poisons to other organisms within the plant itself), they are often associated with unpleasant side effects. In addition, these cholinesterase inhibiting alkaloids target only one system in a disorder, which is typified by multifactorial deficits.

The effects of chronic trans-resveratrol supplementation on aspects of cognitive function, mood, sleep, health and cerebral blood flow in healthy, young humans.

Single doses of resveratrol have previously been shown to increase cerebral blood flow (CBF) with no clear effect on cognitive function or mood in healthy adults. Chronic resveratrol consumption may increase the poor bioavailability of resveratrol or otherwise potentiate its psychological effects. In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-groups study, a total of sixty adults aged between 18 and 30 years received either placebo or resveratrol for 28 d.

Dietary nitrate modulates cerebral blood flow parameters and cognitive performance in humans: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover investigation.

Nitrate derived from vegetables is consumed as part of a normal diet and is reduced endogenously via nitrite to nitric oxide. It has been shown to improve endothelial function, reduce blood pressure and the oxygen cost of sub-maximal exercise, and increase regional perfusion in the brain. The current study assessed the effects of dietary nitrate on cognitive performance and prefrontal cortex cerebral blood-flow (CBF) parameters in healthy adults.

Effects of resveratrol alone or in combination with piperine on cerebral blood flow parameters and cognitive performance in human subjects: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over investigation.

Previous research has shown that resveratrol can increase cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the absence of improved cognitive performance in healthy, young human subjects during the performance of cognitively demanding tasks. This lack of cognitive effects may be due to low bioavailability and, in turn, reduced bioefficacy of resveratrol in vivo. Piperine can alter polyphenol pharmacokinetics, but previous studies have not investigated whether this affects the efficacy of the target compound.

Epigallocatechin gallate, cerebral blood flow parameters, cognitive performance and mood in healthy humans: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover investigation.

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the effects of oral ingestion of the 'green tea' polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on cognitive performance, mood and localised cerebral blood flow (CBF) parameters in healthy human adults.

Method: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, 27 healthy adults received placebo and two doses (135 and 270 mg) of EGCG in counterbalanced order on separate days. Following a 45-min resting absorption period, participants performed a selection of computerised cognitive tasks that activate the frontal cortex for a further 42 min.

Herbal extracts and phytochemicals: plant secondary metabolites and the enhancement of human brain function.

Humans consume a wide range of foods, drugs, and dietary supplements that are derived from plants and which modify the functioning of the central nervous sytem (CNS). The psychoactive properties of these substances are attributable to the presence of plant secondary metabolites, chemicals that are not required for the immediate survival of the plant but which are synthesized to increase the fitness of the plant to survive by allowing it to interact with its environment, including pathogens and herbivorous and symbiotic insects. In many cases, the effects of these phytochemicals on the human CNS might be linked either to their ecological roles in the life of the plant or to molecular and biochemical similarities in the biology of plants and higher animals.

Effects of resveratrol on cerebral blood flow variables and cognitive performance in humans: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover investigation.

Background: The many putative beneficial effects of the polyphenol resveratrol include an ability to bolster endogenous antioxidant defenses, modulate nitric oxide synthesis, and promote vasodilation, which thereby improves blood flow. Resveratrol may therefore modulate aspects of brain function in humans.

Objective: The current study assessed the effects of oral resveratrol on cognitive performance and localized cerebral blood flow variables in healthy human adults.