Trial reportScientific reports2020
Dietary flavanols improve cerebral cortical oxygenation and cognition in healthy adults.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 3 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
40 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of cocoa flavanols in modulating peripheral and cerebral microvascular function in healthy individuals and populations at-risk of cardiovascular disease: a systematic review.Nutrition journal · 2025Pooled it
- Genetics of COVID-19 and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2022Pooled it
- The Health Effects of Chocolate and Cocoa: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Acute pre-exercise oral intake of cacao polyphenols attenuates central fatigue development during sustained low-intensity ankle dorsiflexion exercise in healthy young male adults.Physiological reports · 2026Trial
- Comparable improvements in selective, but not sustained, attention in response to a multi-ingredient nootropic formulation when compared with caffeine.European journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- The Impact of Cocoa Flavanols in Modulating Resting Cerebral Blood Flow During Prolonged Sitting in Healthy Young and Older Adults.Nutrients · 2025Trial
- Effect of cocoa extract supplementation on cognitive function: results from the clinic subcohort of the COSMOS trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Trial
- Cocoa Flavanols Improve Vascular Responses to Acute Mental Stress in Young Healthy Adults.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Effects of Konjac glucosylceramides on cognitive function in cognitively unimpaired older adults with subjective cognitive concerns: a randomized, double-blind, controlled pilot study.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2026Article
- Dietary Polyphenols as Modulators of Redox Signalling: From the Antioxidant-Pro-Oxidant Continuum to Clinical Translation (2015-2025).Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning for precision prevention of cognitive decline: integrating multimodal biomarkers, lifestyle interventions, and natural medicines from prediction to clinical practice.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
- Stimulatory Effects of (+)-Epicatechin on Short- and Long-Term Memory in Aged Rats: Underlying Mechanisms.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Preventive Role of Cocoa-Enriched Extract Against Neuroinflammation in Mice.Neurology international · 2025Article
- Phytonutrients and their neuroprotective role in brain disorders.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Review
- From ocean to emotion: a pilot study exploring acute mood effects following consumption of a DHA-rich powder compared with placebo in middle-aged Australian men.The British journal of nutrition · 2024Article
- (Poly)phenols and brain health - beyond their antioxidant capacity.FEBS letters · 2024Review
- Restorative effects of (+)-epicatechin in a rodent model of aging induced muscle atrophy: underlying mechanisms.Food & function · 2024Article
- Article
- Examination of Primary and Secondary Metabolites Associated with a Plant-Based Diet and Their Impact on Human Health.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Investigating the acute cognitive effects of dietary compounds using fNIRS: methodological limitations and perspectives for research targeting healthy adults.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Cocoa flavanols protect humans against vascular disease, as evidenced by improvements in peripheral endothelial function, likely through nitric oxide signalling. Emerging evidence also suggests that flavanol-rich diets protect against cognitive aging, but mechanisms remain elusive. In a randomized double-blind within-subject acute study in healthy young adults, we link these two lines of research by showing, for the first time, that flavanol intake leads to faster and greater brain oxygenation responses to hypercapnia, as well as higher performance only when cognitive demand is high. Individual difference analyses further show that participants who benefit from flavanols intake during hypercapnia are also those who do so in the cognitive challenge. These data support the hypothesis that similar vascular mechanisms underlie both the peripheral and cerebral effects of flavanols. They further show the importance of studies combining physiological and graded cognitive challenges in young adults to investigate the actions of dietary flavanols on brain function.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.