Multivitamins are nutritional supplements that contain a variety of vitamins and minerals. While they are frequently used to supplement the diet and provide essential nutrients, their effects on memory and cognitive function can differ. A large study led by researchers at Columbia University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard found that taking a daily multivitamin supplement can slow age-related memory decline.
“Cognitive aging is a top health concern for older adults, and this study suggests that there may be a simple, inexpensive way to help older adults slow down memory decline,” says study leader Adam M. Brickman, Ph.D., professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Many older people take vitamins or dietary supplements under the assumption that they will help maintain general health. But studies that have tested whether they improve memory and brain function have been mixed, and very few large-scale, randomized trials have been done.
Our study shows that the aging brain may be more sensitive to nutrition than we realized, though it may not be so important to find out which specific nutrient helps slow age-related cognitive decline.
Lok-Kin Yeung
Study methods
More than 3,500 adults (mostly non-Hispanic white) over the age of 60 were randomly assigned to take a daily multivitamin supplement or a placebo for three years in the current study. Participants completed a series of online cognitive assessments at home at the end of each year to test memory function of the hippocampus, an area of the brain affected by normal aging. The COSMOS-Web study is part of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), a large clinical trial led by Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard.
By the end of the first year, memory improved for people taking a daily multivitamin, compared with those taking a placebo. The researchers estimate the improvement, which was sustained over the three-year study period, was equivalent to about three years of age-related memory decline. The effect was more pronounced in participants with underlying cardiovascular disease.
The findings of the new study are consistent with the findings of another recent COSMOS study of over 2,200 older adults, which found that taking a daily multivitamin improved overall cognition, memory recall, and attention, with the effects being more pronounced in those with underlying cardiovascular disease.
“There is evidence that people with cardiovascular disease may have lower micronutrient levels that multivitamins may correct,” Brickman says. “However, we don’t really know why the effect is stronger in this group.”
Good nutrition important for aging brain
Though the researchers did not look at whether any specific component of the multivitamin supplement was linked to the improvement in memory, the findings support growing evidence that nutrition is important for optimizing brain health as we age.
“Our study shows that the aging brain may be more sensitive to nutrition than we realized, though it may not be so important to find out which specific nutrient helps slow age-related cognitive decline,” says Lok-Kin Yeung, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Columbia’s Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain and first author of the study.
“The finding that a daily multivitamin improved memory in two separate cognition studies in the COSMOS randomized trial is remarkable, suggesting that multivitamin supplementation holds promise as a safe, accessible, and affordable approach to protecting cognitive health in older adults,” says co-author JoAnn Manson, MD, chief of Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Division of Preventive Medicine.
“Any kind of supplementation should not be used in place of more holistic methods of obtaining the same micronutrients,” Brickman adds. “Though multivitamins are generally safe, people should always consult with a physician before taking them.”
