Neurologist Reviews Alpha Brain [2 randomized controlled studies + personal experience]

The nootropic alpha brain marketed by Onnit and endorsed by Joe Rogan is very popular, but does it actually work? This video analyzes some of the ingredients of alpha brain and the clinical trials. I also take a bottle of alpha brain myself and report the effects.

At 7:07 in the video, I claim that the probability of getting 2 or more tests showing a statistically significant result out of 16 could “easily occur by random chance.” This is correct, and the exact probability is 0.1892 presuming a one-tail target p-value of 0.05 (see this calculator: https://www.omnicalculator.com/statistics/dice)

At 10:00 in the video, I mention that improving by 1 standard deviation would equate to improving from 50th percentile to 68th percentile. This is incorrect. It would actually equate to improving to the 84th percentile.

Selected sources

Doses: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Alpha-BRAINR-ingredients_fig3_285617651

Actual clinical trial results: https://www.onnit.com/files/Onnit_AlphaBrain_Clinical.pdf

No major side effects
Strangely, the analysis notes only the final comparison, not change from baseline
You can’t claim benefit in executive function based on color-word test given decline with alpha brain.

RCT: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595564/?report=reader

another one: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hup.2520

Article from PRWeb: https://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/01/prweb12444904.htm

Negative study on Marksmanship: https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-018-0229-8
(Funding
This work was supported by a grant from Onnit LLC.)

An article analyzing alpha brain's ingredients: https://illuminatelabs.org/blogs/health/alpha-brain-review

Boston Center for Memory: https://www.bostonmemory.com/
Clinical care and clinical trials.

Randomized Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Group, Efficacy Study of AlphaBRAIN(TM) Administered Orally: clinical trials.gov site: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02739139

Investigator: Boston Center for Memory
Sponsor: Onnits Labs, LLC (just a single trial)

Study on alpha brain an EEG: https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.490

Caffeine EEG: study https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Caffeine-attenuates-EEG-markers-of-sleep-homeostasis-in-waking-and-sleep-Error-bars_fig4_281792666

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Dr. Brandon Beaber is a board-certified neurologist with subspecialty training in multiple sclerosis and other immunological diseases of the nervous system. He is a partner in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group and practices in Downey, California (South Los Angeles). He has several publications on MS epidemiology and has participated in clinical trials for MS therapeutics. You can follow him on twitter @Brandon_Beaber where he regularly posts about MS news and research.

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he video material by Dr. Brandon Beaber is general educational material on health conditions and is not intended to be used by viewers to diagnose or treat any individual's medical condition. Specifically, this material is not a substitute for individualized diagnostic and treatment advice by a qualified medical/health practitioner, licensed in your jurisdiction, who has access to the relevant information available from diagnostic testing, medical interviews, and a physical examination. To the extent that Dr. Beaber endorses any lifestyle change, behavioral intervention, or supplements, the viewer should consult with a qualified healthcare professional to determine the safety and efficacy of the intervention in light of their individualized information.