Acute effects of different multivitamin mineral preparations with and without guarana on mood, cognitive performance and functional brain activation

Previous work has identified the positive effects of the acute administration of a multivitamin-guarana; preparation during an effortful executive/working memory task. Here, we aimed to differentiate the effects of multivitamins with and without guarana and to examine the neural substrates of such effects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Following a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, balanced crossover design, 20 participants (mean age 29 ± 5.54 years) consumed multivitamin preparations with or without guarana (Berocca® Performance and Boost, respectively) and a placebo. Thirty minutes post-treatment, they underwent neurocognitive assessment, consisting of a 10 min Cognitive Demand Battery, with mood ratings taken immediately before and after the battery. Five additional participants underwent post-treatment fMRI scanning during Rapid Visual Information Processing and Inspection Time activation tasks. The multivitamin with guarana treatment was associated with significantly enhanced Serial Threes performance and self-rated contentment. fMRI revealed that both multivitamin treatments increased activation in areas associated with working memory and attentional processing, with the effect being greater in the multivitamin with guarana condition. These data confirm the acute benefits of multivitamins with guarana on mood and cognitive performance. Furthermore, they demonstrate for the first time increased brain activation from multivitamin preparations both with and without guarana, as measured using fMRI.