Acute Intake of a Grape and Blueberry Polyphenol-Rich Extract Ameliorates Cognitive Performance in Healthy Young Adults During a Sustained Cognitive Effort

Abstract

Despite an increasing level of evidence supporting the individual beneficial effect of polyphenols on cognitive performance, information related to the potential synergistic action of these phytonutrients on cognitive performance during a prolonged cognitive effort is currently lacking. This study investigated the acute and sustained action of a polyphenols-rich extract from grape and blueberry (PEGB), on working memory and attention in healthy students during a prolonged and intensive cognitive effort. In this randomised, cross-over, double blind study, 30 healthy students consumed 600 mg of PEGB or a placebo. Ninety minutes after product intake, cognitive functions were assessed for one hour using a cognitive demand battery including serial subtraction tasks, a rapid visual information processing (RVIP) task and a visual analogical scale. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and plasma flavan-3-ols metabolites quantification were also performed. A 2.5-fold increase in serial three subtraction variation net scores was observed following PEGB consumption versus placebo (p < 0.001). A trend towards significance was also observed with RVIP percentage of correct answers (p = 0.058). No treatment effect was observed on FMD. Our findings suggest that consumption of PEGB coupled with a healthy lifestyle may be a safe alternative to acutely improve working memory and attention during a sustained cognitive effort.

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

“…The cognitive benefits seen here are broadly in line with previous demonstrations of improved cognitive function following both acute [24][25][26] and chronic administration [27,28] of polyphenol rich extracts. Several polyphenol studies also employed the Cognitive Demand Battery used here (but at a single post-dose time point), with demonstrations of improved performance across all three tasks following cocoa-flavanols [24], improved Serial 3s performance following fruit flavanols [50], but no benefits following resveratrol [51]. Of note, the global performance measures derived from the cognitive tasks utilised here have proved sensitive to the acute and chronic administration of a Nepalese pepper extract [42] and acute administration of a green oat extract to middle-aged adults [41].…”

Diet and Mental Health: Review of the Recent Updates on Molecular Mechanisms

“…Additionally, some more other small colonic metabolites are the object of similar studies, as they have been able to exert anti-inflammatory activity at the neuronal level [73]. In terms of human intervention studies, in a recent trial, an acute supplementation of a grape and blueberry polyphenol-rich extract was found to improve cognitive performance with a major impact on specific cognitive functions, such as working memory and attention [74].…”

A High Polyphenol Diet Improves Psychological Well-Being: The Polyphenol Intervention Trial (PPhIT)

“…A growing number of epidemiological studies support a role for polyphenols in the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) [14], cancer [15] and neurodegenerative diseases [14,16]. Furthermore, animal studies have demonstrated the ability of polyphenols to improve cognitive performance and memory [17,18] and, more recently, these results have been replicated in human studies [19,20]. Regarding mental health, a growing body of data from animal and human studies has emerged supporting the role of a variety of dietary polyphenols in affecting behaviour and mood through anxiolytic and antidepressant-like properties, mediated through multiple molecular and cellular pathways [21].…”