Supplements · Metabolic & Cardiometabolic
creatine improves cognitive function
In plain terms: Does creatine supplementation improve cognition?
Part of: 🧪 creatine
Partly — creatine helps cognition mainly in specific situations (older adults, vegetarians, sleep deprivation); the largest trial in healthy young adults found no reliable benefit, so 'awesome cognitive benefits' overstates it for most people.
Evidence ladder
How far up the ladder this claim has climbed. A high consensus on a low rung means "consistent so far," not "proven in people."
Top evidence so far: All trials, pooled (Meta-analysis)
How the studies fall
The evidence (14)
| Source | Grade | Stance | Quality | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moriarty 2023 · Brain Sci | RCT | mixed | low | Creatine produced only limited dose-dependent changes in cognitive performance in healthy young adults. |
| Roschel 2021 · Nutrients | observational | supports | low | Review: creatine shows therapeutic/ergogenic potential for brain health, though human cognitive data remain limited. |
| Xu 2024 · Front Nutr | meta-analysis | supports | moderate | SR+meta-analysis: creatine improved aspects of cognitive function in adults, with potential to delay cognitive decline. |
| Kaufman 2025 · Am J Lifestyle Med | observational | mixed | low | Critical aging-supplement review: creatine cognitive benefits in healthy aging are modest and not yet consistent. |
| Forbes 2022 · Nutrients | observational | supports | low | Review: preliminary evidence creatine benefits brain function, especially under stress (sleep deprivation, fatigue). |
| Benton 2011 · Br J Nutr | RCT | mixed | moderate | Creatine improved memory in vegetarians but not omnivores, showing benefit is population-dependent. |
| Prokopidis 2023 · Nutr Rev | meta-analysis | supports | moderate | SR+meta-analysis: creatine improved memory in healthy individuals, most clearly in older adults; effects modest. |
| McMorris 2007 · Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn | RCT | supports | low | Creatine improved several memory and recall tasks in elderly participants versus placebo. |
| Gordji-Nejad 2026 · Nutrients | RCT | supports | moderate | A single high dose of creatine reduced sleep-deprivation-induced cognitive deterioration. |
| Rawson 2008 · Physiol Behav | RCT | contradicts | moderate | Six weeks of creatine did not improve any cognitive or psychomotor measure in non-sleep-deprived young adults. |
| Avgerinos 2018 · Exp Gerontol | meta-analysis | mixed | moderate | Creatine improved short-term memory and reasoning in healthy adults but effects on other cognitive domains were inconsistent. |
| Sandkuhler 2023 · BMC Med | RCT | mixed | moderate | RCT: creatine did not significantly improve cognitive performance in healthy young adults on the primary outcome (consistent with benefit only under metabolic stress). |
| Alves 2013 · PLoS One | RCT | tested-null | moderate | Creatine with or without strength training did not significantly improve cognitive measures in older women. |
| McMorris 2006 · Psychopharmacology | RCT | supports | moderate | Creatine lessened cognitive and mood decline during sleep deprivation with mild exercise. |
Disagree, or know a study we missed?
We grade by evidence, not opinions. The way to weigh in is to point us to a study we haven't cited (check the evidence table above first), or to flag a problem with one we have. Every submission is reviewed; if it holds up, the grade updates and shows in Science Changes Its Mind.
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Educational only, not medical advice. Grades and scores reflect published evidence weighted by study design and quality; see the methodology.