Effects of creatine on mental fatigue and cerebral hemoglobin oxygenation.

Abstract

While the role of creatine in preventing muscle (peripheral) fatigue for high performance athletes is well understood, its biochemical role in prevention of mental (central) fatigue is not. Creatine is abundant in muscles and the brain and after phosphorylation used as an energy source for adenosine triphosphate synthesis. Using double-blind placebo-controlled paradigm, we demonstrated that dietary supplement of creatine (8 g/day for 5 days) reduces mental fatigue when subjects repeatedly perform a simple mathematical calculation. After taking the creatine supplement, task-evoked increase of cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin in the brains of subjects measured by near infrared spectroscopy was significantly reduced, which is compatible with increased oxygen utilization in the brain.

• Authors: Airi Watanabe, Nobumasa Kato, Tadafumi Kato
• Journal: Neuroscience research (Neurosci Res) Vol. 42 Issue 4 Pg. 279-85 (Apr 2002) ISSN: 0168-0102 [Print] Ireland
• PMID: 11985880 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Oxyhemoglobins
• Creatine

Topics

• Adult
• Brain (drug effects, metabolism)
• Cerebrovascular Circulation (drug effects, physiology)
• Cognition (drug effects, physiology)
• Creatine (therapeutic use)
• Double-Blind Method
• Fatigue (drug therapy, metabolism)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Oxygen Consumption (drug effects, physiology)
• Oxyhemoglobins (drug effects, metabolism)
• Psychomotor Performance (drug effects, physiology)
• Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
• Time Factors
• Treatment Outcome