Functional correlates of creatine supplementation

OBJECTIVES: Previous research on the biological markers of sustained post-concussion syndrome (PCS) after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has suggested that those with mTBI have a reduction in prefrontal creatine (Dean et al., 2013), which is associated with poorer performance and reduced prefrontal BOLD response in cognitive tasks (Dean et al., 2015). In addition, dietary supplementation of creatine can alleviate PCS symptoms in the acute stage after injury (Sakellaris et al., 2006) or protect from PCS symptoms (Sullivan et al., 2000). It is an intriguing possibility that creatine may also alleviate symptoms, even in the long-term after injury. The previous study (Dean et al., 2015) demonstrated altered fMRI indices, correlated to reduced creatine, despite no difference in behavioural performance between those with mTBI and controls. This study therefore investigates the underlying functional changes brought about by creatine supplementation during a working memory task using combined fMRI and EEG in a non-brain injured population. METHODS: fMRI and EEG data was acquired during an n-back (0-, 2-, 4-back) task from ten vegetarian participants at three time points, one week apart. Week 1 was baseline, week 2 after placebo (maltodextrin) and week 3 after intervention (creatine monohydrate). Both placebo and intervention were taken as 5g of powder dissolved in 250ml of water/milk, two times a day (morning/evening). Analysis of the EEG and fMRI data is ongoing, and will be completed by the conference date. RESULTS: Behavioural results indicated an effect of condition (0-, 2-, 4-back, p