AUTHOR=Silva Ana Beatriz Januário da , Barros Waleska Maria Almeida , Silva Mayara Luclécia da , Silva José Maurício Lucas , Souza Ana Patrícia da Silva , Silva Karollainy Gomes da , de Sousa Fernandes Matheus Santos , Carneiro Antonietta Cláudia Barbosa da Fonseca , Toscano Ana Elisa , Lagranha Cláudia Jacques 

TITLE=Impact of vitamin D on cognitive functions in healthy individuals: A systematic review in randomized controlled clinical trials

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.987203

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.987203

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Cognition is understood as aspects related to knowledge, learning, and understanding, as well as the ability to develop these functions. Vitamins and minerals influence the functioning of several functions in the central nervous system and can help maintain brain health and cognitive function throughout life. In this review, we gathered and analysed randomized clinical trials carried out in healthy adults, which does not concern intellectual and/or mental processes that involve cognitive functions and their influence by serum levels of vitamin D (vit D). To do so, we adopted the PRISMA method criteria and registered it in the PROSPERO database. The search was performed in PubMed (MEDLINE), PsycINFO, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. The 5 most frequent cognitive domains in the selected studies were transmitted: processing speed, attention, verbal learning/memory, executive function, and general cognitive functions. We found that there is positive changes in the following domains: verbal memory and verbal working memory, learning memory, attention, executive function, and also cognitive function in general. Geographical aspects, age group, methods, and tools used to analyse the relationship between cognitive function and cognitive function were also discussed. We highlight the following suggestions for improvements that vitamin D supplementation may promote in the cognitive domains of the in healthy adults: a) low doses between 400 IU/d and 600 IU/d seem to be more effective when compared to doses between 2400 IU/d and 5000 IU/d; b) food fortification and enrichment with vit D, need further studies, as they seem to be more or as effective as synthetic supplementation; c) more clinical trials with young adults are needed, in order to understand positive changes promoted by supplementation with this vitamin in cognitive functions.