Citicoline and Brain Health

My husband is concerned about his brain. He exercises, is lean, and eats right, but increasingly he says he has a hard time remembering the right word or clearly articulating his thoughts. So, when I attended a lecture by Drs. Deborah Yurgelun-Todd and Perry Renshaw from The Brain Institute of the University of Utah on the brain health benefits of the dietary supplement, CognizinÒ citicoline, I was intrigued. (The session was sponsored by Kyowa Hakko, USA (http://kyowa-usa.com/), a global manufacturer of compounds used in dietary supplements and CognizinÒ brand citicoline).

After the conference I did some research by starting with Natural Medicines and then doing a literature search through Pub Med (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) to learn more about citicoline. I also contacted Dr. Yurgelun-Todd about her research on citicoline, as she has been studying it for over a decade. I found that citicoline was originally used as a treatment for individuals who had a stroke.  It is estimated that 2 million brain cells die every minute after a stroke so early treatment is essential to preserve the brain and maintain normal function. In a recent review of citicoline used in stroke patients, it was found that citicoline was safe to use and had beneficial effects on recovery, especially in older patients (>70 yrs) who had no other treatments. One study found that when citicoline was given to stroke patients within 3 hours, they were more likely to have complete recovery compared to those who got a placebo. Not all studies find such great results, but overall the evidence of a positive improvement in brain function after a stroke is well founded.

Food is not a good source of citicoline; only a small amount is found in organ meats. When citicoline is taken orally (in a pill) it is broken down into a B-vitamin, choline, and cytidine which is further metabolized into a compound called uridine. Both choline and uridine can cross the blood brain barrier and once in the brain, they can be converted back to citicoline, sometimes referred to as CDP-choline. Within the brain citicoline has several actions. First, it helps stimulate the production of cell membranes. Second, citicoline increases the production of the neurotransmitters which have been shown to increase attention, focus and memory.

Research on citicoline for other disorders where cognitive abilities are affected is scant, but promising. Researchers can’t yet say that citicoline will improve memory or cognition in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, Bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s disease or traumatic brain injury, but stay tuned as more research is conducted in these areas.

I asked Dr. Yurgelun-Todd what she would say about healthy 50+ adults taking citicoline and she said that there is some good evidence to support the use of the supplement on improved focus and sustained attention. Her studies have used doses ranging from 250-4000 mg/day but she says a dose of 250-500 mg/day is effective and well-tolerated.

What about my husband? He has been taking citicoline for a couple of months (250 mg twice a day) and notices an improvement in word finding and clarity in conversations. He said he sometimes had to “think in pictures” when telling a story, but now he thinks he has better mental clarity. Of course, this is anecdotal. As for his memory, well, he still leaves the house without his wallet and phone and can’t find the milk in the refrigerator, but he feels it has helped him and that is a good thing.