Effect of Tyrosine Supplementation on Cognitive Performance and Mood During Military Stress
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01913925. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
The objective of this research is to determine if tyrosine, an amino acid found in protein-containing foods, will mitigate the cognitive deficits and adverse effects on behavior and mood produced by exposure to military stress. This study was conducted at the US Navy Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape (SERE) school at Brunswick, Maine (ME). Tyrosine is the dietary precursor of the catecholamine norepinephrine, a key brain neurotransmitter that is critical for the central nervous system (CNS) response to various types of acute stress. Psychological stress increases catecholamine turnover in the brain, increasing the requirement for tyrosine to support synthesis of norepinephrine. Animal and human studies have shown that tyrosine supplementation can produce beneficial effects on cognitive and physiological functions during exposure to a variety of acute stressors. This project will determine if volunteers treated with supplemental tyrosine during stressful phases of SERE training experience less degradation in cognitive performance and mood than volunteers treated with placebo. Tyrosine or placebo will be administered in a specially developed food bar provided to volunteers. The bar is part of a prototype of ration-component designed for use during assault operations. A between-subjects, double blind experimental design will be employed. Tyrosine, an amino acid found in most protein-containing foods, has been tested in hundreds of volunteers without adverse effects. Approximately 100 volunteers will be recruited from several SERE classes to ensure up to 80 volunteers complete the study. They will be tested during several portions of SERE. A comprehensive but brief battery of cognitive tests, as well as saliva samples, and heart rate data will be collected in a manner that does not interfere with ongoing training. Hypotheses: 1. Exposure to the stressors of SERE school will adversely impact cognitive performance and mood of volunteers. 2. The adverse effects of psychological stress on cognitive performance and mood during SERE school will be reduced when volunteers are given supplemental tyrosine compared to placebo treatment.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT01913925
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 80 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 39 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Jun 30, 2009
- Primary completion
- Sep 30, 2009
- Completion
- Sep 30, 2009
- Last update posted
- Nov 2, 2020
2009
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Navy SERE School | Brunswick | Maine | 04011 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01913925, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Nov 2, 2020 · Synced Sep 7, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT01913925 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.