New York, NY—At this year’s annual American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology conference, trial results were revealed suggesting citicoline may have positive effects on motor speed and cognition in adolescent males.

This study was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial administered at The Brain Institute at the University of Utah. Over the course of 28 days, 75 healthy adolescent males were divided into treatment and placebo groups before being administered a branded citicoline product. Following the 28-day period, the subjects underwent several cognitive tests. Among these tests are “Finger Tap Test,” a motor function assessment where required to press a lever attached to a mechanical counter as many times as possible during discrete time periods., and the Ruff 2 & 7 Selective Attention Test, which tests a timed cancellation task in which participants cross out 2’s and 7’s embedded in blocks of distractor numbers or letters.

The results of the study showed an overall increase in attention and motor speed in the citicoline group as opposed to the placebo group. Additionally, self-reported side effects of administration in the participants did not exceed those in the placebo group. Lead researcher, Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah, notes that “the study finally sheds a light on the cognitive-enhancing effects of citicoline in healthy, adolescent individuals…this is something we at The Brain Institute have never done before.” The majority of research regarding citicoline as of right now has been centered on adults with neurological deficits, with limited study to healthy adolescent populations.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, October 2014