Background/Objectives: Creatine is a supplement that, beyond its physiological effects, has been shown to have positive effects on cognitive abilities. In our previous study, we showed that a single dose of 0.35 g/kg creatine induces changes in brain metabolism during sleep deprivation and reduces deterioration in cognitive performance. The present study investigates whether supplementation of a lower dose is associated with cognitive effects during sleep deprivation, focusing exclusively on cognitive performance outcomes. Methods: Twenty-nine healthy subjects performed cognitive tests at the evening baseline and 3, 5.5, and 7.5 h after receiving a single dose of creatine monohydrate (0.2 g/kg) or a placebo during a total of 21 h of sleep deprivation (SD). Results: The results show a mitigating effect of creatine on sleep deprivation-induced deterioration in logical and numerical tasks, language-related processing speed, and the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT). Compared to males, females benefit more in logic, PVT and processing speed in language and logic tasks. Conclusions: Our results show that a dose of 0.2 g/kg creatine is associated with a reduced deterioration in cognitive performance during sleep deprivation. Although the effect is less pronounced than with a high dose of 0.35 g/kg, there is still an improvement of up to 12%.
Keywords: cognitive performance; creatine; sleep deprivation.