Effects of Acute Guarana ( Paullinia cupana ) Ingestion on Mental Performance and Vagal Modulation Compared to a Low Dose of Caffeine

Guarana (GUA), a Brazilian seed extract, contains caffeine and other bioactive compounds that may have psychoactive effects. To assess the acute effects of GUA compared to a low dose of caffeine (CAF) on cognitive and mood parameters, twenty participants completed a double-blind, crossover experimen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nutrients Vol. 16; no. 12; p. 1892
Main Authors:	Talik, Tyler N, Penna, Eduardo Macedo, Hack, Brian P, Harp, Alec, Millard-Stafford, Mindy
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 15-06-2024 MDPI
Subjects:	Accuracy Adenosine Adult Affect - drug effects Caffeine Caffeine - administration & dosage Caffeine - pharmacology Coffee cognition Cognition - drug effects Cognitive ability Cross-Over Studies Dietary Supplements Double-Blind Method emotion fatigue Female Heart Rate - drug effects HRV Humans Information processing Laboratories Male Memory mood Paullinia - chemistry perception Physiology Plant Extracts - administration & dosage Plant Extracts - pharmacology Vagus Nerve - drug effects Vagus Nerve - physiology Young Adult United States > US vagus nerve fatigue emotion cognition mood HRV perception
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Summary:	Guarana (GUA), a Brazilian seed extract, contains caffeine and other bioactive compounds that may have psychoactive effects. To assess the acute effects of GUA compared to a low dose of caffeine (CAF) on cognitive and mood parameters, twenty participants completed a double-blind, crossover experiment where they ingested capsules containing the following: (1) 100 mg CAF, (2) 500 mg GUA containing 130 mg caffeine, or (3) placebo (PLA). Cognitive tests (Simon and 2N-Back Task) were performed at the baseline (pre-ingestion) and 60 min after ingestion. The response time for the cognitive tests and heart rate variability were unaffected ( > 0.05) by treatment, although 2N-Back was overall faster ( = 0.001) across time. The accuracy in the 2N-Back Task showed a significant interaction effect ( = 0.029) due to higher post-ingestion versus pre-ingestion levels ( = 0.033), but only with the PLA. The supplements also had no effect on cognitive measures following physical fatigue ( = 11). There was an interaction effect on perceived mental energy, where the pre-ingestion of GUA had lower mental pep ratings compared to post-ingestion ( = 0.006) and post-exercise ( = 0.018) levels. Neither the acute ingestion of GUA nor low dose of CAF influenced cognitive performance or provided consistent benefit on mood or mental workload through vagal modulation. Additional investigations are beneficial to determining the lowest effective dose for CAF or GUA to influence mood and/or cognitive performance.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Undefined-3
ISSN:	2072-6643 2072-6643
DOI:	10.3390/nu16121892