VoltraCreatine for the brain: memory, focus and mood
The evidence is mixed. Two pooled analyses reported better memory scores with creatine [1][3], but both counted several tests from the same people as separate results [4][5], and when one was re-analysed with an appropriate method, the effect held only in older adults [4]. The EU's food safety authority, EFSA, concluded in 2024 that a cause-and-effect relationship between creatine and better cognitive function "has not been established" [5].
Why the brain?
About 95% of the body's creatine is in skeletal muscle [5]; our creatine guide covers what it does for training, how it's taken, and what's known about kidneys and hair. The brain uses creatine too, and can make its own [6]. Supplements raise brain creatine far less than muscle creatine: by about 5 to 10%, against about 20 to 40% in muscle, according to a 2025 review, which adds that it's unclear whether the brain needs more creatine than muscle to raise its levels [6].
Memory
A 2024 pooled analysis covered 16 randomised trials with 492 people aged 20.8 to 76.4, some healthy and some with specific diseases, all using creatine monohydrate [1]. Memory scores were better with creatine than in the control groups (a standardised difference of 0.31), and the authors rated the certainty of that result moderate [1].
A 2023 analysis of healthy people only, 8 trials with 225 participants, found a similar overall result (0.29) [3]. The gain showed in adults aged 66 to 76 (0.88) but not in 11- to 31-year-olds (0.03) [3]. The two analyses don't agree on who benefits: the 2024 one found creatine more beneficial in people aged 18 to 60, in people with diseases and in women [1].
Both have been criticised for the same thing: counting several memory tests from the same people as if they were separate studies. EFSA said the 2024 analysis "pools the results of multiple related cognitive tests from the same studies, which are not independent from each other", which double-counts participants, and that "no conclusions can be drawn from this meta-analysis for the scientific substantiation of the claim" it was assessing [5]. You can see it in the numbers: for memory, the analysis reports "Twenty-four studies, encompassing a total of 1,000 participants" [1], more than twice the 492 people in the whole review (calculated).
For the 2023 analysis, a 2026 commentary reports that when its authors re-analysed their data with an appropriate method, "the overall effect of creatine on memory reported in their 2023 study was no longer significant, except in older adults" [4]. We couldn't access that re-analysis itself.
Focus, attention and speed
| 2024 analysis | With creatine | Certainty |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | Better scores (0.31) | Moderate |
| Attention | Faster times; scores no better | Low |
| Processing speed | Faster times; scores no better | Low |
| Executive function | No significant effect | Low |
| Overall cognition | No significant effect | Low |
The 2024 analysis [1], with its 2025 correction [2]. Certainty is the authors' own GRADE rating. EFSA's double-counting criticism applies to the whole analysis [5].
The nearest measures of focus are attention and processing speed. With creatine, people were faster on these tests, but their scores didn't improve: the 2025 correction states that creatine "does not have a significant positive impact on attention scores when considered as a whole", and says the same of processing-speed scores [2]. The authors rated all of these results low certainty [1].
What EFSA concluded
In 2024, EFSA assessed a proposed health claim for healthy adults, "Daily creatine supplementation can contribute to improved cognitive function" [5]. The application came from Alzchem Trostberg GmbH [5]; Alzchem is a company that manufactures creatine [3]. EFSA found that the 10 studies it could draw conclusions from, in healthy people under normal or stressful conditions, "do not show a consistent effect of creatine supplementation on cognitive function", and concluded that "a cause-and-effect relationship has not been established between creatine supplementation and an improvement in cognitive function in one or more of its domains" [5].
When you haven't slept
One possible exception is sleep loss. A 2025 review by International Society of Sports Nutrition researchers calls the evidence that creatine helps thinking during sleep deprivation in young adults preliminary, and adds that "there is no evidence that creatine supplementation improves cognition under conditions of adequate sleep" [6]. EFSA assessed a sleep-deprivation study: it had methodological limitations, and it found an effect on working memory after 36 hours without sleep combined with exercise, but none on verbal or short-term memory, alertness or processing speed [5].
Mood and depression
A 2025 meta-analysis of 11 trials with 1,093 participants, with or without depression, found an average improvement in depression symptoms equal to 2.2 points on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, below the 3.0-point minimal important difference [7]. Its authors rated the evidence very low quality, found signs of substantial bias in creatine's favour, and say "the true effect may be trivial or null" [7].
A 2026 review looked at five trials in people with a mental disorder, four in major depression and one in bipolar depression, where creatine was added to existing treatment (126 people on creatine, 112 on placebo) [8]. It found creatine "generally well-tolerated" and promising alongside an SSRI antidepressant or psychotherapy in major depression, but it also reports that 2 of 17 participants taking creatine had hypomania or mania; the abstract doesn't say which trial they were in [8]. If you're being treated for depression or bipolar disorder, talk to your doctor before adding creatine.
About these sources
Several of these papers have ties to Alzchem, the creatine maker that applied for the EU claim [5]. In the 2023 memory analysis, co-author Darren Candow declares a place on the "Scientific Advisory Board for AlzChem (a company that manufactures creatine)"; that analysis had no external funding [3]. At least 9 of the 20 authors of the 2025 International Society of Sports Nutrition review disclose Alzchem advisory roles, grants or creatine donations [6], and two authors of the 2026 mental-disorders review, Candow and Sergej Ostojic, disclose Alzchem advisory roles in that 2025 review [6][8]. The 2024 analysis was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and its authors declare no commercial conflicts [1]; the 2026 commentary had no funding and declares no conflicts [4].
In Voltra
If you take creatine, you can log it in the Eat tab like any food, by searching for it or describing it, and the Coach can answer questions using what you've logged.
Frequently asked
Does creatine improve memory?
The evidence is mixed. Pooled trials reported better memory scores, but they counted several tests from the same people as separate results; re-analysed with an appropriate method, one analysis kept the effect only in older adults. EFSA found no established effect on cognitive function.
Does creatine help focus?
Not clearly. In a 2024 analysis, people were faster on attention and processing-speed tests, but their scores on those tests didn't improve, and the evidence was rated low certainty.
Can creatine help with depression?
It isn't established. A 2025 analysis of 11 trials found an average effect below the level that counts as clinically important, with very low-quality evidence. Trials in people with depression gave creatine alongside treatment; talk to your doctor before adding it.
Does creatine help when you're short of sleep?
Maybe. A 2025 review calls the evidence preliminary and limited to sleep-deprived young adults, and says there's no evidence it improves cognition with adequate sleep.
Sources
- Xu C, Bi S, Zhang W, Luo L (2024). The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Nutr 11:1424972. Abstract; memory analysis p. 8; funding p. 16.
- Xu C, Bi S, Zhang W, Luo L (2025). Corrigendum: The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Nutr 12:1570800. Corrected sections 3.4.3 (attention) and 3.4.5 (processing speed), pp. 1–2.
- Prokopidis K, Giannos P, Triantafyllidis KK, Kechagias KS, Forbes SC, Candow DG (2023). Effects of creatine supplementation on memory in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutr Rev 81(4):416–427. Abstract; participants p. 420; funding p. 425; declaration of interest p. 426.
- Citherlet T (2026). Commentary: The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Nutr 13:1716285. pp. 1–2.
- EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) (2024). Creatine and improvement in cognitive function: evaluation of a health claim pursuant to Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. EFSA J 22(11):e9100. Abstract p. 1; proposed claim p. 4; assessment pp. 5–9; conclusions p. 9.
- Antonio J, Brown AF, Candow DG, et al. (2025). Part II. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? J Int Soc Sports Nutr 22(1):2441760. Brain creatine p. 20; sleep deprivation p. 22; disclosures pp. 24–25.
- Eckert I, Lima J, Dariva AA (2025). Creatine supplementation for treating symptoms of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Nutr 134(11):947–959. Abstract.
- Jeryous Fares B, Zhou C, Fabiano N, et al. (2026). The effect of creatine monohydrate on mental disorders: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Can J Psychiatry 71(10):741–751. Abstract.
Sources checked on 30 September 2026.
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