Imagine your brain as a bustling city, with memory and well-being as the main avenues. In this exciting study, researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial to investigate the effects of human probiotics on these essential aspects of cognitive health. They enrolled older adults, aged 55 to 80, and assigned them to receive either human probiotics or a placebo. The participants completed various tests and questionnaires to evaluate their cognitive functions, mood, and physical performance. After analyzing the data, the researchers found no significant improvements in memory, mood, or physical measures among the individuals who took the probiotics. It seems like the probiotic supplements did not influence the cognitive cityscape or enhance well-being in these community-dwelling older adults. While this study may not have yielded the desired results, it provides valuable insights into the potential limitations of using human probiotics for cognitive health in this specific population. To dive deeper into the research findings and explore alternative approaches to support memory and well-being in older adults, check out the full article!

ObjectivesThis study presents results of our randomized clinical trial studying the effect of human probiotics on memory and psychological and physical measures following our study protocol registered at clinicaltrials.gov NCT05051501 and described in detail in our previous paper.MethodsCommunity dwelling participants aged between 55 and 80  years were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of 106 colony-forming units of human Streptococcus thermophilus GH, Streptococcus salivarius GH NEXARS, Lactobacilus plantarum GH, and Pediococcus pentosaceus GH or placebo. A cross-over design allowed each group to receive probiotics and placebo for 3  months each in reverse order. A small subset of participants was examined online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After 6  months a small number of volunteers were additionally assessed after 2  months without any intervention. Primary outcome measures included changes in cognitive functions assessed using brief tests and a neuropsychological battery and changes in mood assessed using validated questionnaires. Secondary outcome measures included changes in self-report and subjective measures using depression and anxiety questionnaires, seven visual analog scales of subjective feelings (memory, digestion, etc.), and physical performance.ResultsAt baseline, the probiotic-placebo group A (n = 40, age 69 ± 7 years, education 16 ± 3 years, 63% females, body mass index 28.5 ± 6, subjective memory complaint in 43%) did not differ from the placebo-probiotic group B (n = 32) in any of the sociodemographic characteristics and evaluated measures including cognitive status. At follow-up visits after 3, 6, and 8  months, no cross-sectional differences in any of the measures were found between the groups except worse sentence recall of the ALBA test after 3  months of probiotic use. Score changes were not observed for all cognitive tests but one in any group between visits 1 and 3 and between visits 3 and 6. The only change was observed for the TMT B test after the first three months but no change was observed after the second three months.ConclusionThe treatment with human probiotics and prebiotics did not improve cognitive, affective, or physical measures in community-dwelling individuals with normal or mildly impaired cognitive functions.Clinical trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT05051501.

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