ReviewNutrients2016
B Vitamins and the Brain: Mechanisms, Dose and Efficacy--A Review.
Review in Nutrients, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 392 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
392 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 975 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adherence to the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet and depression, stress, and anxiety: a systematic review.BMC nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Dietary intake, quality, and assessment tools in individuals with problematic alcohol use: a scoping review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Prenatal exposure to medication and risk of childhood cancer - a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Supplementation and Mitigating Cognitive Decline in Older Adults With or Without Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Relevance of diet in schizophrenia: a review focusing on prenatal nutritional deficiency, obesity, oxidative stress and inflammation.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- The association of dietary inflammatory index with sleep outcomes: A systematic review.Health promotion perspectives · 2024Pooled it
- Research Progress on the Relationship between Vitamins and Diabetes: Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Two Faces of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Inhibitor on One-Carbon Metabolism in Parkinson's Disease: A Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Effects of vitamin B9 and B12-fortified corn flour on cognitive function in teenage girls: a randomized controlled trial in Ethiopia.European journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Role of B vitamins in modulating homocysteine and metabolic pathways linked to brain atrophy: Metabolomics insights from the VITACOG trial.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Trial
- High-dose Vitamin-B6 reduces sensory over-responsivity.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Dietary supplements for aggressive behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities: A randomised controlled crossover trial.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID · 2023Trial
- A functional evaluation of anti-fatigue and exercise performance improvement following vitamin B complex supplementation in healthy humans, a randomized double-blind trial.International journal of medical sciences · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Development of future-oriented alternative poultry livestock products utilizingFood science of animal resources · 2026Review
- Dietary Patterns, Micronutrient Adequacy, and Metabolic Vulnerability in Alzheimer's Disease: A Critical Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Anthropometric characteristics and nutrient intake among Korean children and adolescents with ADHD: analysis of KNHANES data, 2007-2021.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Mediterranean Diet and Micronutrient Adequacy in Relation to Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Risk: A Case-Control Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
332 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The B-vitamins comprise a group of eight water soluble vitamins that perform essential, closely inter-related roles in cellular functioning, acting as co-enzymes in a vast array of catabolic and anabolic enzymatic reactions. Their collective effects are particularly prevalent to numerous aspects of brain function, including energy production, DNA/RNA synthesis/repair, genomic and non-genomic methylation, and the synthesis of numerous neurochemicals and signaling molecules. However, human epidemiological and controlled trial investigations, and the resultant scientific commentary, have focused almost exclusively on the small sub-set of vitamins (B9/B12/B6) that are the most prominent (but not the exclusive) B-vitamins involved in homocysteine metabolism. Scant regard has been paid to the other B vitamins. This review describes the closely inter-related functions of the eight B-vitamins and marshals evidence suggesting that adequate levels of all members of this group of micronutrients are essential for optimal physiological and neurological functioning. Furthermore, evidence from human research clearly shows both that a significant proportion of the populations of developed countries suffer from deficiencies or insufficiencies in one or more of this group of vitamins, and that, in the absence of an optimal diet, administration of the entire B-vitamin group, rather than a small sub-set, at doses greatly in excess of the current governmental recommendations, would be a rational approach for preserving brain health.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.