PS-100
Memory & Cognitive Function
• 300 mg/day of soy lecithin-derived phosphatidylserine (PS) combined with phosphatidic acid over 3 months significantly improved memory, cognition, daily functioning, and mood in elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.1
• 100 mg and 300 mg/day of soy-derived PS over 6 months improved memory function in elderly adults with memory complaints. Improvements were most pronounced in participants with lower baseline scores.2
• PS combined with omega-3 fatty acids (300 mg/day) over 15 weeks improved memory in non-demented elderly adults with memory complaints in a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial.3
• 100 mg/day of soy-derived PS over 6 weeks improved cognitive performance in elderly adults with subjective memory complaints in a pilot randomised controlled trial.4
• A 2024 randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial found that PS supplementation significantly improved cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.5
Stress Response
• 800 mg/day of PS blunted the neuroendocrine response — measured by ACTH and cortisol output — to acute physical stress in healthy men. This was the first human study to demonstrate PS’s direct effect on HPA axis activity.6
• 400 mg/day of PS over 4 weeks reduced the stress-induced activation of the HPA axis in healthy men, establishing that this effect persists with chronic supplementation.7
• 300 mg/day of a soy-based PS/phosphatidic acid complex (PAS) over 42 days normalised HPA axis reactivity in chronically stressed healthy males, significantly reducing ACTH and cortisol responses to stress.8
• 300 mg/day of PAS over 3 weeks significantly blunted ACTH and cortisol responses to mental stress in healthy adults.9
• PS supplementation (300 mg/day) improved mood and attenuated the heart rate response to an acute stressor in healthy adults in a randomised double-blind crossover trial.10
Mental Performance
• 200 mg/day of PS over 42 days improved cognitive performance and cortical activity following induced stress in healthy adults.11
• 400 mg/day of PS over 2 weeks improved cognitive function and mood in athletes, both before and following acute exercise.12
Reference List:
1. Moré, M. I., Freitas, U., & Rutenberg, D. (2014). Positive effects of soy lecithin-derived phosphatidylserine plus phosphatidic acid on memory, cognition, daily functioning, and mood in elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Advances in Therapy, 31(12), 1247–1262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-014-0165-1
2. Kato-Kataoka, A., Sakai, M., Ebina, R., Nonaka, C., Asano, T., & Miyamori, T. (2010). Soybean-derived phosphatidylserine improves memory function of the elderly Japanese subjects with memory complaints. Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition, 47(3), 246–255. https://doi.org/10.3164/jcbn.10-62
3. Vakhapova, V., Cohen, T., Richter, Y., Herzog, Y., & Korczyn, A. (2010). Phosphatidylserine containing omega-3 fatty acids may improve memory abilities in non-demented elderly with memory complaints: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 29, 467–474. https://doi.org/10.1159/000310330
4. Richter, Y., Herzog, Y., Lifshitz, Y., Hayun, R., & Zchut, S. (2013). The effect of soybean-derived phosphatidylserine on cognitive performance in elderly with subjective memory complaints: a pilot study. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 8, 557–563. https://doi.org/10.2147/cia.s40348
5. Duan, H., Xu, N., Yang, T., Wang, M., Zhang, C., Zhao, J., Li, Z., Chen, Y., Yan, J., Zhang, M., Li, W., Yue, Z., He, R., & Huang, G. (2024). Effects of a food supplement containing phosphatidylserine on cognitive function in Chinese older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.131
6. Monteleone, P., Beinat, L., Tanzillo, C., Maj, M., & Kemali, D. (1990). Effects of phosphatidylserine on the neuroendocrine response to physical stress in humans. Neuroendocrinology, 52(3), 243–248. https://doi.org/10.1159/000125593
7. Monteleone, P., Maj, M., Beinat, L., Natale, M., & Kemali, D. (1992). Blunting by chronic phosphatidylserine administration of the stress-induced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in healthy men. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 43, 569. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02285106
8. Hellhammer, J., Vogt, D., Franz, N., Freitas, U., & Rutenberg, D. (2014). A soy-based phosphatidylserine/phosphatidic acid complex (PAS) normalizes the stress reactivity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis in chronically stressed male subjects. Stress, 17(3), 219–223. https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2014.913961
9. Hellhammer, J., Fries, E., Buss, C., Engert, V., Tuch, A., Rutenberg, D., & Hellhammer, D. (2004). Effects of soy lecithin phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylserine complex (PAS) on the endocrine and psychological responses to mental stress. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 19(3), 165–170. https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.575
10. Benton, D., Donohoe, R., Sillance, B., & Nabb, S. (2001). The influence of phosphatidylserine supplementation on mood and heart rate when faced with an acute stressor. Nutritional Neuroscience, 4, 169–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/1028415x.2001.11747360
11. Baumeister, J., Barthel, T., Geiss, K. R., & Weiss, M. (2008). Influence of phosphatidylserine on cognitive performance and cortical activity after induced stress. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 79(3), 280–285. https://doi.org/10.3357/ASEM.2144.2008
12. Parker, A. G., Gordon, J., Thornton, A., Byars, A., Lubker, J., Bartlett, M., Byrd, M., Oliver, J., Simbo, S., Rasmussen, C., Greenwood, M., & Kreider, R. B. (2011). The effects of IQPLUS Focus on cognitive function, mood, and endocrine response before and following acute exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 8(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-8-16
