Cognitive Effects of Sage in Healthy Humans

The Acute and Chronic Cognitive Effects of a Sage Extract: a Randomized, Placebo Controlled Study in Healthy Humans

Extracts of sage and polyphenols have separately been reported to interact with central nervous system (CNS) mechanisms relevant to cognitive performance but, to date, no trial has combined these interventions. The current study investigates the effects of this combined intervention in N=90 healthy males and females between 30-60 yrs, at 600 mg versus placebo, on cognition and mood over a 29 day period.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cognitive Change; Mood Change
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Cognivia; Dietary supplement: Placebo

Detailed Description

Improved cognitive performance has been observed in humans following supplementation of sage extracts; including recall and mental arithmetic ability. Aspects of mood have also shown improvements; e.g. increased alertness, calmness and contentedness and reduced mental fatigue. These effects are believed to be underpinned by interactions with cholinergic and GABA pathways. Polyphenols too have shown promise in boosting cognition and mood and interaction with vasodilatory pathways and GABA neurotransmission are purported to be the likely mechanisms involved. Research has yet to investigate if a combination of sage terpenes and polyphenols could be even more efficacious via synergistic interaction.The current study investigates the effects of a 600 mg sage/polyphenol combination on cognition and mood in N=90 healthy male and female participants between the ages of 30-60 yrs acutely; on day 1 of supplementation, and chronically; after 29 days. Cognitive and mood data will also be collected every 7 days in the interim via a mobile phone cognitive task battery.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 94
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Tyne And Wear
    • Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne And Wear, United Kingdom, NE1 8ST
      • Brain Performance and Nutrition Research Centre

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 26 years to 56 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must self-assess themselves as being in good health.
• Aged 30 to 60 years at the time of giving consent
• In daytime employment and/or higher education

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have any pre-existing medical condition/illness which will impact taking part in the study NOTE: the explicit exceptions to this are controlled (medicated) arthritis, asthma, hay fever, high cholesterol and reflux-related conditions. There may be other, unforeseen, exceptions and these will be considered on a case-by-case basis; i.e. participants may be allowed to progress to screening if they have a condition/illness which would not interact with the active treatments or impede performance.
• Are currently taking prescription medications NOTE: the explicit exceptions to this are contraceptive and hormone replacement treatments for female participants where symptoms are stable and treatment will not change during the course of the study, those medications used in the treatment of arthritis, high cholesterol and reflux-related conditions; and those taken 'as needed' in the treatment of asthma and hay fever. As above, there may be other instances of medication use which, where no interaction with the active treatments is likely, participants may be able to progress to screening.
• Have high blood pressure (systolic over 159 mm Hg or diastolic over 99 mm Hg)
• Have a Body Mass Index (BMI) outside of the range 18.5-30 kg/m2
• Are pregnant, seeking to become pregnant or lactating
• Have learning and/or behavioural difficulties such as dyslexia or ADHD
• Have a visual impairment that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses (including colour-blindness)
• Smoker
• excessive caffeine intake (>500 mg per day)
• Have food intolerances/ sensitivities
• Have taken antibiotics, prebiotics or probiotics (including drinks. Eg. Yakult or Actimel) within the past 8 weeks
• Have any health condition that would prevent fulfillment of the study requirements (this includes non-diagnosed conditions for which no medication may be taken)
• Are unable to complete all of the study assessments
• Are currently participating in other clinical or nutrition intervention studies, or have in the past 4 weeks
• Has been diagnosed with/ undergoing treatment for alcohol or drug abuse in the last 12 months
• Have been diagnosed with/ undergoing treatment for a psychiatric disorder in the last 12 months
• Suffers from frequent migraines that require medication (more than or equal to 1 per month)
• Sleep disturbances (including night-shift work) and/ or are taking sleep aid medication
• Any known active infections
• Does not have a bank account (required for payment)
• Are non-compliant with regards treatment consumption (see 4.3)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: 600 mg sage/polyphenol combination; 600 mg of this sage/polyphenol combination will be consumed, via capsule, per day for 29 days.	Dietary supplement: Cognivia; Cognivia is a trademarked sage/polyphenol combination dietary supplement from Nexira
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; The same number of aesthetically similar capsules will be consumed per day for 29 days.	Dietary supplement: Placebo; Placebo control capsules were prepared by Nexira also and are aesthetically identical to the Cognivia capsules

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Acute change in global cognitive task performance	Changes in executive function, working memory, spatial memory, secondary memory and attention as compared to pre-treatment performance on day 1. All tasks have the same x3 outcome measures; accuracy (% correct), errors (% incorrect) and speed (milliseconds) and the individual task scores will therefore be collapsed into global cognitive domains.	120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 1 of treatment supplementation
Acute changes in mood; as assessed by the Bond-Lader mood scales	The Bond-Lader mood visual analogue scales will be used at baseline and 120- and 240-minutes post dose on day 1. The derived scores on alertness, calmness and contentedness will be 'changed-from-baseline' and this score compared across the treatments.	120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 1 of treatment supplementation
Interim changes in global cognitive task performance	Changes in attention, executive function, working memory and episodic memory as compared to pre-treatment performance on day 1. All tasks have the same x3 outcome measures; accuracy (% correct), errors (% incorrect) and speed (milliseconds) and the individual task scores will therefore be collapsed into global cognitive domains.	Day 7, day 14, day 21 and day 28
Chronic changes in cognitive task performance	Changes in executive function, working memory, spatial memory, secondary memory and attention as compared to pre-treatment performance on day 1. All tasks have the same x3 outcome measures; accuracy (% correct), errors (% incorrect) and speed (milliseconds) and the individual task scores will therefore be collapsed into global cognitive domains.	Pre-dose, 120 minutes and 240 minutes post-dose on day 29 of treatment supplementation
Chronic changes in mood; as assessed by the Bond-Lader mood scales	The Bond-Lader mood visual analogue scales will be used at baseline and 120- and 240-minutes post dose on day 29. The derived scores on alertness, calmness and contentedness will be 'changed-from-baseline' and this score compared across the treatments.	Pre-dose, 120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 29 of treatment supplementation
Change in prospective memory performance; as assessed by a prospective memory task (the prospective remembering video task)	This individual task is called the Prospective Remembering Video Task (PRVP) and requires participants to remember a list of remembered locations and actions and identify these as they watch a video with them unfolding. The task is scored for difference in prospective memory/location learning performance between active and placebo on day 25 of supplementation period and also the difference in amount of memory decay of prospective memory/location learning on day 29 of treatment supplementation.	Day 25 and day 29
Acute changes in mood; as assessed by the 'state, trait anxiety inventory' (STAI)	The STAI will be used at baseline and 120- and 240-minutes post dose on day 1. The anxiety scores will be 'changed-from-baseline' and this score compared across the treatments.	120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 29 of treatment supplementation
Chronic changes in mood; as assessed by the 'state, trait anxiety inventory' (STAI)	The STAI will be used at baseline and 120- and 240-minutes post dose on day 29. The anxiety scores will be 'changed-from-baseline' and this score compared across the treatments.	120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 29 of treatment supplementation

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Acute changes in blood pressure	Changes in blood pressure (BP) as compared to pre-dose BP on day 1. BP is assessed via forearm cuff and provides systolic and diastolic BP.	120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 1 of treatment supplementation
Chronic changes in blood pressure	Changes in blood pressure (BP) as compared to pre-dose BP on day 1. BP is assessed via forearm cuff and provides systolic and diastolic BP.	Pre-dose, 120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 29 of treatment supplementation
Acute changes in heart rate	Changes in heart rate (HR) as compared to pre-dose HR on day 1. HR is assessed via forearm cuff.	120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 1 of treatment supplementation
Chronic changes in heart rate	Changes in heart rate (HR) as compared to pre-dose HR on day 1. HR is assessed via forearm cuff.	Pre-dose, 120 minutes and 240 minutes post dose on day 29 of treatment supplementation

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Northumbria University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Emma Wightman, Dr, Northumbria University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 3, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 24, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): September 24, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 20, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 2, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): October 3, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 17, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 16, 2020
• Last Verified: March 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Cognition; Polyphenol; Mood; Sage; Terpene
• Other Study ID Numbers: 55C2

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No
• IPD Plan Description: The IPD will be shared among the named investigators and Nexira only.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No