brain health · Jun 02, 2025

8 Best Supplements for Cognitive Health

man drinking coffee and reading book to improve cognitive health

By Alexandra Rogers, PhD

As advances in medicine help us live longer, surviving cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, another challenge is coming into focus: preserving brain health. Age-related cognitive decline, from forgetfulness to clinical neurodegeneration, is rising, and we still know far too little to treat it.

While medicines for conditions like Alzheimer’s have only moderate effectiveness and often come with side effects, researchers have identified protective factors. Genetics, environment, stress, physical activity, and — perhaps most importantly, diet — all shape brain health. Optimizing all of these at once is hard, but even small changes can have big effects.

This is where targeted, intentional supplementation can be particularly powerful. Certain micronutrients and plant-derived compounds have shown promise in their ability to improve memory, focus, and brain resilience, particularly when taken together.

If you’re concerned about dementia, Alzheimer’s, or traumatic brain injury, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from repeated concussions, you might already be taking steps through diet and lifestyle. Now, increasing evidence shows that supplements like nicotinamide, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), berberine, taurine, and alpha-GPC are emerging as powerful tools to support brain function.

At Tonum, we’ve combined these and other well-studied cognitive ingredients into Nouro, a mixture of the best supplements for brain health, developed in collaboration with Duke University to protect one of the most important organs for our quality of life: our brains.

1. Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA)

ALA is a natural antioxidant found in many foods. It reduces oxidative stress — improving memory function in animal models — and supports mitochondrial function, which is critical for producing the energy your brain needs [1, 2]. Both of these are important for long-term brain health. In humans, most clinical trials report cognitive improvements with ALA supplementation [3].

A recent randomized, placebo-controlled study (the gold standard in clinical trials) conducted in Alzheimer’s patients reported that participants who consumed omega-3 plus ALA showed less cognitive decline over 12 months [4]. Furthermore, a 2023 study in late-middle-aged mice showed that ALA can increase synaptic health, particularly in the hippocampus, the region of the brain that makes new memories and is one of the first brain areas to degenerate in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease [5]. Tonum’s recent research showed that Nouro reduced hippocampal shrinkage in an Alzheimer’s Disease mouse model by 35%. Additionally, a recent systematic review (a type of literature review that assesses all available evidence) found that ALA significantly reduces inflammation in the brain [6].

While evidence is still emerging, especially in human studies, the overall body of evidence strongly suggests that ALA can improve cognitive function even in people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, as well as in relatively healthy older adults.

2. Taurine

Taurine, an amino acid commonly found in meat, eggs, and seaweed, has wide-ranging functions in the heart, kidneys, and brain [7, 8]. It interacts with multiple neuromodulator receptors (brain receptors that help regulate nerve cell communication), including GABA receptors, glycine receptors, and NMDA receptors. Both GABA and glycine receptors have calming effects and help fine-tune the balance between the “accelerator” and “brakes” that ensure proper neuronal function (excitation and inhibition) in the brain. When these are not balanced well, people can have seizures, problems with movement, or cognitive impairments. NMDA receptors are crucial for learning and memory [7].

Your brain is capable of forming new neurons well into adulthood (a process known as neurogenesis). Taurine is concentrated in these areas of new neuron formation, where it has shown neuroprotective effects in stroke and exposure to toxic chemicals [8, 9]. Studies in cultured neurons (neurons that are grown in a controlled environment outside the body, like a petri dish) show that it can promote the development of new synapses and buffer the brain against stress in metabolic disorders like diabetes [10, 11]. Tonum’s research has shown that Nouro increases brain levels of a critical signalling molecule that keeps neurons healthy and helps new neurons grow. While more evidence is needed, it is likely that taurine improves neuronal function, protects neurons from damage, and supports synaptic plasticity — which is important for learning, adapting to new experiences, and memory.

3. Alpha-GPC (Alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine)

Alpha-GPC is a choline-containing compound that can be used to make acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter crucial for memory and attention. Neurotransmitters are chemical messages that transmit information throughout the brain and nervous system; they are like letters going from one neuron to another. Acetylcholine-producing neurons are some of the first to degenerate in Alzheimer’s disease [12].

While common Alzheimer’s medications work by blocking the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine (leading to an increased concentration in the brain), alpha-GPC works by boosting the production of acetylcholine itself [13]. Initial studies showed that it can reverse the amnesia caused by anti-cholinergic drugs (medications that block the action of acetylcholine) and protect mice from neurological deficits induced by therapeutic doses of radiation [14, 15].

A recent meta-analysis including seven randomized controlled trials and one prospective study found significant (stronger than random chance) improvements on cognition, functional outcomes, and behavior in dementia patients with alpha-GPC combined with donepezil (a standard Alzheimer’s drug) when compared to donepezil alone [16, 17]. A common diagnostic tool used in dementia scores a range of behavioral problems that people might have, using a 10-point scale for each potential problem, where 10 is the most severe and 0 means the problem isn’t present. For a drug to be considered “clinically relevant,” meaning that it actually helps patients, their score must decrease by four points [18]. In this meta-analysis, patients who took alpha-GPC alongside donepezil had a nearly eight-point decrease in this score, suggesting a strong effect.

4. Nicotinamide

Nicotinamide, a compound derived from tryptophan and a building block of NAD+, supports mitochondrial health and reduces inflammation. In studies on rats fed high-fat diets similar to the standard American diet, nicotinamide supplementation reduced oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain [19]. In a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, nicotinamide treatment improved cognitive performance and reduced the build-up of harmful amyloid plaques and tau tangles [20]. Tonum’s research has found that Nouro can dramatically reduce amyloid plaque formation in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. A review in the International Journal of Tryptophan Research also found that nicotinamide may protect neurons from damage caused by injuries, strokes, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s [21]. The researchers concluded that supplementing with nicotinamide is likely to be an impactful and practical way to protect neurons from the stressors of life.

5. Paraxanthine

Paraxanthine, the primary active metabolite of caffeine, offers unique benefits compared to caffeine itself. It can enhance short-term memory, attention, reasoning, and response time, with greater effects at higher doses [22, 23]. Additionally, paraxanthine is better tolerated than caffeine, suggesting it may offer the cognitive benefits without jitteriness or a caffeine crash often associated with caffeine [24].

In vitro experiments (done on cells removed from a mouse brain) showed that paraxanthine protects dopamine neurons from damage, which is important for preventing Parkinson’s disease [25]. A recent study also found that supplementing with paraxanthine improved attention and reaction time after intense exercise, mitigating cognitive fatigue better than caffeine [26]. A 2024 study in rats showed that paraxanthine’s positive effects on cognition and markers of brain health are stronger than caffeine’s [27].

6. Silybin (Siliphos® in Nouro)

Silybin, derived from milk thistle, has notable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties.

In one study, it was shown to reduce markers of liver damage and reduce brain inflammation after exposure to a common agricultural fungicide [28]. As the main component of silymarin, silybin has been found to reduce oxidative stress, protein aggregation, and neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases and injury [29]. It also increases brain acetylcholine by inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, similar to common Alzheimer’s medications [29]. Additionally, in models of stroke and chemotherapy-related brain damage, silybin has been shown to protect neurons and reduce DNA damage and cell death in the hippocampus, a brain region essential to memory formation [30, 31]. It can also reduce harmful fatty deposits in the liver, as seen in Tonum’s study of Motus.

7. Berberine (Berbevis® in Nouro)

Berberine is a plant compound used for centuries in traditional medicine to treat a wide variety of health problems. Preclinical studies suggest it may help with conditions like depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy, stroke, and dementia, likely by reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and cellular damage caused by protein buildup or misfolding [32]. A recent study in people with schizophrenia also identified a significant reduction in systemic inflammation and improvements in cognition, which the researchers attribute to a reduction in neuroinflammation [33].

One challenge with berberine is low bioavailability (i.e., the body doesn’t absorb it well). In Nouro, our cognitive health supplement developed alongside Duke Health, we use a phospholipid-bound formulation (Berbevis®) to improve absorption and cell permeability. Berberine is generally well-tolerated, and observational studies suggest that it is effective in reducing blood lipids, improving insulin sensitivity, and supporting a healthy body composition [34, 35]. In 2020, a systematic review of 120 preclinical studies also found that berberine may help prevent dementia by improving metabolic, cardiovascular, kidney, and liver function, while also providing neuroprotective effects [36]. While more human studies are needed to confirm these findings, the current evidence is promising.

8. Choline bitartrate

Like alpha-GPC, choline bitartrate is used by the body to make the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. However, as we age, the brain becomes less efficient at extracting choline from the bloodstream [37]. This may partly explain why choline supplementation has shown potential to protect against age-related cognitive decline [38]. By increasing the total amount of circulating choline, supplementing with choline may increase the likelihood that the brain gets enough, even when uptake is less efficient. Recent studies have also shown that combining choline with omega-3 and uridine can improve memory [39].

Using Nouro for Cognitive Health

Each of these compounds shows promise alone, but together they work synergistically. Nouro’s formulation combines the best supplements for brain health: antioxidant, metabolic, and anti-inflammatory properties, along with gentle mood balancing and focus enhancers to ensure you can perform at your best now and for years to come.

Why we use these cognitive health compounds in Nouro:

ALA: It protects neurons from oxidative stress and supports mitochondrial function for long-term brain health.
Taurine: To improve mood regulation and resilience to neurological stress, improving overall brain function.
Alpha-GPC: To support attention, neuroplasticity, and cognitive performance.
Nicotinamide: To defend brain cells from oxidative and metabolic stress and support GABA-producing neurons, improving cognitive function long-term.
Paraxantine: To improve focus and provide clean mental energy.
Siliphos®: To defend brain cells from oxidative damage and support long-term cognitive health.
Berbevis®: To support brain metabolism and reduce neuroinflammation, potentially improving cognition, as well as contributing to overall metabolic health, a major contributor to long-term brain health.
Choline bitartrate: To support the function of other components and provide additional circulating choline, a crucial building block for an essential neurotransmitter.

Don’t wait to support your brain—add Nouro to your daily routine and experience lasting cognitive benefits.

Takeaways

While brain health is still an emerging field, we now have proven tools to support it. The ingredients in Nouro are backed by randomized, placebo-controlled studies, offering an evidence-based approach to protect and enhance cognitive function.

By formulating them in combination, we enhance their effectiveness and make it easier for you to integrate these compounds into your daily life (after all, it’s easier to take one supplement than eight). By adding these compounds to your routine, you can take a proactive step toward supporting memory, focus, and long-term brain resilience in the face of aging, stress, or past injury. While there is still no magic pill to prevent or cure neurodegeneration, Nouro offers a science-backed way to support your brain every day.

References:

Alexandra (Aly) Rogers, PhD, is a scientific writer and grants consultant with a background in neurobiology. She specializes in translating complex research into clear, actionable insights for healthcare, science, and wellness audiences. Aly is AMWA-certified and passionate about supporting brain health, equity in science, and evidence-based decision-making.

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