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High‐dose Vitamin B6 supplementation reduces anxiety and strengthens visual surround suppression
Vitamins B6 and B12 play roles in metabolic processes that help reduce neural excitation and enhance inhibition. The purpose of this double-blind study by Field et al. (2022) was to assess the effects of a month-long high-dose B6 or B12 supplementation against a placebo on a range of behavioral outcomes associated with the equilibrium between brain excitation and inhibition. A total of 478 young adults were recruited across five connected phases. Measures of self-reported depression (N = 146) and anxiety (N = 265) were taken both before and after the supplementation period. In order to examine inhibitory function, a number of sensory evaluations were carried out only after supplementation. These assessments comprised a series of tactile sensitivity tests (N = 180), binocular rivalry reversal rate (N = 172), and surround suppression of visual contrast detection (N = 357). When vitamin B6 was supplemented, there was a drop in self-reported anxiety, and a trend was observed towards a reduction in depression, in addition to an increase in surround suppression of visual contrast perception. However, no further substantial alterations were observed in other outcome measures. Vitamin B12 supplementation showed trends toward changes in anxiety and visual processing. These findings suggest that high-dose Vitamin B6 supplementation enhances inhibitory GABAergic neural activity, which aligns with its established role in GABA synthesis. [NPID: Vitamin b6, Vitamin B12, neural inhibition, neural excitation, anxiety, depression, sensory measures, gabaergic influences, young adults]
Year: 2022
