Hifas da Terra participated in the Neurofood R&D project alongside Cuevas y Cía and other collaborating organisations.
The project included a research phase conducted with the Foltra Foundation, a centre specialising in neurological rehabilitation. This phase explored methods used to collect information about different areas of cognitive performance.
What does a cognitive assessment examine?
Cognition includes several mental processes used in everyday activities. These include paying attention, remembering information, following instructions, processing information and responding to visual stimuli.
The Neurofood research phase used structured tests to collect data across several cognitive domains:
- Memory: the ability to register, retain and recall information.
- Attention: the ability to focus on relevant information and maintain concentration during a task.
- Processing speed: the time required to understand information and respond to it.
- Visuospatial ability: the capacity to interpret visual information and understand the position of objects in space.
- Inhibitory control: the ability to disregard distracting information when completing a task.
The research also collected information relating to the participants’ experience of the test format.
Interpreting the data
According to the available project information, the assessments were conducted with 40 healthy adult volunteers before and after the research period.
A pre/post design can identify changes in test results over time. However, without an appropriately designed concurrent control group, it cannot establish that a particular ingredient or formulation caused those changes. Familiarity with the tests, individual variation and other external factors may also influence the results.
The information collected contributed to the consortium’s experience in cognitive assessment, research methodology and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Further controlled research would be required before conclusions could be drawn about a formulation’s effects on memory, attention or other cognitive functions. Participation in the Neurofood project does not demonstrate that any commercially available food supplement provides a cognitive or medical benefit.