Mike Montemarano, Associate Editor 01.27.21
A plant-based nootropic ingredient called Cognivia, a formulation of sage extracts, was recently evidenced in a clinical trial to have cognitive benefits, when researchers found that supplementation resulted in improved working memory and concentration compared to placebo.
The formulation, which combines an extract from garden sage leaves with essential oils extracted from Spanish sage, “demonstrated synergistic effects on memory on the first intake and even at the end of administration,” Damien Guillemet, scientific director at Nexira, said. “This effect was correlated to an increase in one of the key enzymes of the brain, CaMKII, a neurotransmitter modulator linked to metabolism and synaptic plasticity.”
“The sage plant contains a host of terpenes and phenolic which interact with mechanisms pertinent to brain function and improve aspects of cognitive performance,” the authors of the study wrote. “However, previous studies in humans have looked at these phytochemicals in isolation and following acute consumption only […] The current study investigated the impact of this sage combination on cognitive functions in humans with acute and chronic outcomes.”
In the double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 94 patients were administered either 600 mg of the sage formulation or a placebo daily, and their cognitive functions were assessed at 120 and 240 minutes following the dose, as well as at the end of the 29-day supplementation period. The tests included Corsi Blocks, Numeric Working Memory, and Name to Face recall tasks.
Supplementation not only established clinically significant benefits across tasks which measured the cognitive domains of accuracy and working memory performance, but testing revealed that this combination of extracts increased the expression of calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CamKII) an enzyme believed to regulate neuronal processes which support working memory, learning, and interpretation.
“We observed a consistent significant benefit of a sage combination intervention in healthy adult humans on working memory and accuracy of performance cognitive domains. This significant activity was observed both acutely (after just 2 h following consumption) and chronically (after 29 days of administration). The pattern and magnitude of significance points towards an increase in product efficacy over the administration period and, taken together, suggests that future trials should focus on disentangling the working and spatial memory effects of this intervention in humans with an extended timeframe of perhaps several months.”
The formulation, which combines an extract from garden sage leaves with essential oils extracted from Spanish sage, “demonstrated synergistic effects on memory on the first intake and even at the end of administration,” Damien Guillemet, scientific director at Nexira, said. “This effect was correlated to an increase in one of the key enzymes of the brain, CaMKII, a neurotransmitter modulator linked to metabolism and synaptic plasticity.”
“The sage plant contains a host of terpenes and phenolic which interact with mechanisms pertinent to brain function and improve aspects of cognitive performance,” the authors of the study wrote. “However, previous studies in humans have looked at these phytochemicals in isolation and following acute consumption only […] The current study investigated the impact of this sage combination on cognitive functions in humans with acute and chronic outcomes.”
In the double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 94 patients were administered either 600 mg of the sage formulation or a placebo daily, and their cognitive functions were assessed at 120 and 240 minutes following the dose, as well as at the end of the 29-day supplementation period. The tests included Corsi Blocks, Numeric Working Memory, and Name to Face recall tasks.
Supplementation not only established clinically significant benefits across tasks which measured the cognitive domains of accuracy and working memory performance, but testing revealed that this combination of extracts increased the expression of calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CamKII) an enzyme believed to regulate neuronal processes which support working memory, learning, and interpretation.
“We observed a consistent significant benefit of a sage combination intervention in healthy adult humans on working memory and accuracy of performance cognitive domains. This significant activity was observed both acutely (after just 2 h following consumption) and chronically (after 29 days of administration). The pattern and magnitude of significance points towards an increase in product efficacy over the administration period and, taken together, suggests that future trials should focus on disentangling the working and spatial memory effects of this intervention in humans with an extended timeframe of perhaps several months.”
