In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study of the effect of
lecithin on memory test performance, nine normal paid volunteers (age range
= 22-55 years) took single oral doses of placebo and lecithin (20 g) 5
hours before cognitive testing. Lecithin raised plasma choline levels
during the test session to nearly double the placebo levels, but a
categorized serial learning task, a word recognition task, a paired
associates learning task, and a test of retrieval by category demonstrated
no significant change in memory performance. Lecithin did not selectively
enhance memory for low-imagery words. Lecithin also had no effect on
psychomotor speed.
Abstract Teaser