Carnosine supplementation improves cognitive outcomes in younger participants of the NEAT trial.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Post-hoc secondary analysis of an individual randomized controlled trial.
PubMed 39919936 · doi:10.1016/j.neurot.2025.e00541
What was done
Investigators conducted a post-hoc secondary analysis of the randomized, placebo-controlled Nucleophilic Defense Against PM Toxicity (NEAT) trial to evaluate the effect of carnosine on cognitive performance in healthy adults. A total of 299 participants were randomized to receive either 2 g daily of carnosine or a cornstarch placebo for up to 12 weeks. Cognitive performance was evaluated using the 10-test Cognition test battery assessing speed, accuracy, and efficiency at baseline, approximately 6 weeks (Follow-up-1; n = 242 with usable data), and approximately 12 weeks (Follow-up-2; n = 231). Outcomes were analyzed across three age strata: 23 to 35 years, 36 to 50 years, and 51 to 65 years.
What was found
The abstract does not report exact numerical effect sizes, point estimates, or p-values. It reports that participants in the youngest age stratum (23-35 years) experienced statistically significant improvements in overall cognitive speed and efficiency at both 6 and 12 weeks, as well as significant improvements across seven individual test scores for speed or accuracy. The older age strata (36-50 and 51-65 years) demonstrated few or no significant cognitive improvements compared to placebo.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that oral carnosine supplementation may selectively enhance cognitive processing speed and efficiency in younger healthy adults, extending research on carnosine beyond older or clinically impaired cohorts.
Limits
This was a post-hoc secondary subgroup analysis, which carries an inherent risk of type I error and false-positive findings due to multiple testing across subgroups and battery subtests. The abstract provides no quantitative data, effect sizes, confidence intervals, or exact p-values. There was also participant attrition over the 12-week intervention period, dropping from 299 randomized participants to 231 with usable measures at final follow-up.
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- context A 2025 trial in Neurotherapeutics found that carnosine supplementation directly improved cognitive outcomes.