Association between dietary creatine and visuospatial short-term memory in older adults.

Aims: The purpose was to examine the relationship between habitual dietary creatine intake obtained in food and visuospatial short-term memory (VSSM). Methods: Forty-two participants (32 females, 10 males; > 60 yrs of age) completed a 5-day dietary recall to estimate creatine intake and performed a cognitive assessment which included a visuospatial short-term memory test (forward and reverse corsi block test) and a mini-mental state examination (MMSE). Pearson correlation coefficients were determined. Further, cohorts were derived based on the median creatine intake. Results: There was a significant correlation between the forward Corsi (r = 0.703, P < 0.001), reverse Corsi (r = 0.715, P < 0.001), and the memory sub-component of the MMSE (r = 0.406, P = 0.004). A median creatine intake of 0.382 g/day was found. Participants consuming greater than the median had a significantly higher Corsi (P = 0.005) and reverse Corsi (P < 0.001) scores compared to participants ingesting less than the median. Conclusions: Dietary creatine intake is positively associated with measures of memory in older adults. Clinical Implications: Older adults should consider food sources containing creatine (i.e. red meat, seafood) due to the positive association with visuospatial short-term memory.

Could dietary creatine intake modulate overweight elderly's selective attention and inhibitory function?

Aims: There is evidence that both aging and increased adiposity may impact creatine levels in the brain, and brain creatine levels are important for cognition. The aim of this study was to assess correlation between dietary creatine intake and cognition in in elderly women with overweight. Methods: Twenty seven overweight women over 60 years of age who were part of a larger study participated in an Eriksen Flanker Task (EFT) to asssess cognitive performance. Additionally, diet was assessed over 5 days via daily diary nutritional recalls and the estimate of the daily amount of creatine was calculated. Results: In the EFT when incongruente stimulus were presented there was a significant diferences between those with low and high intake of creatine (-35.3 ± 5.84; p < 0.001). Similarly, reaction time to answer incongruent stimulus (r = -0.383; p = 0.004) and the percent of correct answers (r = 0.743; p < 0.001) showed weak to strong correlations with self-reported daily creatine intake. Conclusions: In conclusion, our results suggest that in elderly women with overweight that dietary intake of creatine may influence cognitive ability. Clinical Implications: Our findings support the idea that intake of dietary creatine may be an important factor for cognition in older adults.