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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1549509
The effect of curcumin supplementation on cognitive function: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1 Institute of Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Research, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, China
- 2 Institute of Nutrition and Health, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
Previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) did not draw a consistent conclusion about the effect of curcumin on cognitive fucntion. We searched Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase, and 9 RCTs (including 12 independent comparisons) with 501 subjects were included in the present meta-analysis. Compared with placebo, supplementation of curcumin significantly improved global cognitive function (SMD, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.19 to 1.45; P = 0.010). A curvilinear dose-response effect was observed, and the optimal dose is 0.8 g/day. Subgroup analysis indicated that the beneficial effect of curcumin on cognition was significant only if duration ≥ 24 weeks (SMD, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.13 to 2.18; P = 0.027), age of participants ≥ 60 years (SMD, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.03 to 2.21; P = 0.044), or participants from Asian countries (SMD, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.08 to 1.83; P = 0.032). Otherwise, this effect became non-significant (P > 0.05). Sensitivity analysis by excluding each study one by one or excluding all studies with high risk of bias did not obviously influence the final results. No significant publication bias was observed (P for Begg's Test and Egger's test = 0.150 and 0.493, respectively). In conclusion, supplementation of curcumin can effectively improve global cognitive function, and the optimal dose and duration is 0.8g/day and ≥ 24 weeks. The beneficial effect of curcumin on cognition is more potent in older and Asian participants than younger and Western ones.
Keywords: Curcumin, Cognition, Alzheimer's disease, Meta-analysis, randomized
Received: 21 Dec 2024; Accepted: 27 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhao, Liu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Kelei Li, Institute of Nutrition and Health, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.