Taking a large dose of creatine might help regulate brain energy metabolism when people stay awake all night, particularly reducing abnormal energy patterns in brain areas responsible for movement and planning.
Scientific Claim
A single high dose of creatine (0.35 g/kg) may reduce the sleep deprivation-induced increase in cerebral ATP-β to total phosphorus ratio (ATP-ß/31P) by approximately 8.5% in the upper brain regions of young healthy adults during 21 hours of sleep deprivation, with more pronounced effects in motor and premotor cortical areas.
Source Excerpt
“Significant declines were reached in the upper grid when pooled at all 3 time points (ATP-ß/31P: −8.5±2.8%, p43=0.004, t=−3.00; ATP-ß/PCr: −11.3±3.9%, p43=0.006, t=−2.88). The declines in ATP-ß/31P were regionally most pronounced in the right lateral premotor (ATP-ß/31P: −15.6±4.9%, t43=−3.21, p43=0.003; ATP-ß), left posterior F1 (ATP-ß/31P: −13.2±4.0%, t13=−3.32, p43=0.001), left medial central (ATP-ß/31P: −11.5±3.5%, t43=−3.29, p43=0.002), left lateral premotor (ATP-ß/31P: −18.4±6.2%, t13=−4.23, p43=0.0001), left motor (ATP-ß/31P: −18.2±4.4%, t43=−4.12, p43=0.0002) and left medial premotor (left: ATP-ß/31P −14.0±3.0%, t43=−4.67, p43=0.00003) region.”
Evidence from Studies
Supporting Studies
Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation
The study used 31P-MRS to measure ATP-β levels in different brain regions and found statistically significant reductions in ATP-β/31P ratio in the creatine condition compared to placebo during sleep deprivation, particularly in motor and premotor areas.