Single-Dose Creatine Reduces Sleep Deprivation-Induced Deterioration in Cognitive Performance.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trial
PubMed 42075005 · doi:10.3390/nu18081192
What was done
Twenty-nine healthy subjects completed cognitive testing at an evening baseline and at 3, 5.5, and 7.5 hours after receiving a single dose of creatine monohydrate (0.2 g/kg) or placebo during 21 hours of sleep deprivation.
What was found
Creatine mitigated sleep deprivation-induced deterioration in logical and numerical tasks, language-related processing speed, and the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT), showing up to a 12% improvement. Females showed greater benefits than males in logic, PVT, and processing speed for language and logic tasks. Exact scores, variances, and p-values were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
It demonstrates that a lower single dose of creatine (0.2 g/kg) mitigates acute sleep deprivation-induced cognitive decline, extending previous findings from higher doses.
Limits
The sample size was small (n = 29) and limited to healthy individuals under short-term (21 h) sleep deprivation. Exact test scores and statistical measures were omitted from the abstract, and physiological or brain metabolic changes were not assessed.