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# Multivitamins help cognition in young men
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/multivitamins_help_cognition_in_young_men_0123141103/
- Published: 2014-01-24T00:02:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:10:08.000Z
- Description: In a 16-week randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 138 adults aged 20 to 49, men taking a multivitamin improved on the incongruent Stroop task, a measure of selective attention and response inhibition. Women showed no such benefit, though B vitamin levels rose in both.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Vitamins, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

Thursday Jan 23, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Human Psychopharmacology suggests that taking multivitamin supplements can help cognition in young men.

Cognitive benefits of multivitamins have been also seen in elderly people. The current randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 16-week multivitamin supplementation trial led by Dr. Helen Macpherson from Swinburne University in Hawthorn Victoria, Australia and colleagues shows multivitamins can also benefit young men but not young women.

For the trial, 138 men and women aged 20 to 49 were randomized to receive either a multivitamin containing minerals and herbs or placebo for 16 weeks. Serum homocysteine, vitamin B6, B12 and folate were measured at baseline and at the end of the study. Also, participants completed a computerized battery of cognitive performance tests at baseline and the end of the study.

Men taking the multivitamin were found to improve their performance on the the incongruent stroop task, indicating that the supplement improves performance on selective attention and response inhibition. But the multivitamin supplementation did not seem to benefit women.

In men and women, serum levels of vitamin B6, B12 and folate were increased while in men, homocysteine was decreased. In men, the improved stroop congruent performance was correlated with increased vitamin B6 concentration in the blood.

The trial concluded " Multivitamin supplementation may be useful for maintaining levels of B vitamins." (David Liu, PHD)