Benefits
Memory support
In one manufacturer-funded, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial in 63 healthy Korean adults, memory quotient on the Rey-Kim Memory Test rose 8.9 percent at 280 mg, 17.5 percent at 400 mg and 24.8 percent at 600 mg per day over 3 weeks, against a non-significant 2.5 percent rise on placebo. That single 3 week study is the whole adult evidence base.
Word recall and figure recall
In the same trial the 400 and 600 mg groups remembered significantly more words than placebo and scored higher on redrawing a complex figure from memory. Two other measures were null: the learning gradient (p = 0.7440) and retrieval efficiency (p = 0.3959) did not differ from placebo. The effect was not seen on every memory measure.
Antioxidant activity in animals and cells only
Silk fibroin peptides reduced reactive oxygen species in cultured human neuroblastoma cells and reduced brain injury in rats and gerbils with surgically induced ischemia. That work was done in animals and cell culture, not in people. No antioxidant or brain-protection outcome has been measured in a human trial of this ingredient.
Mechanism of action
Antioxidant brain protection
Silk fibroin peptides reduce reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress in brain tissue in laboratory and animal models, a proposed basis for their memory effects.
Rodent brain-injury models
In rats and gerbils whose blood flow to the brain was surgically interrupted, oral BF-7 at 10 mg/kg reduced infarct size and cut errors in maze testing. These are animal disease models, published by the peptide supplier's own staff, and nothing comparable has been tested in people. Cera-Q is not a treatment for stroke or any brain disease.
Clinical trials
Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of silk fibroin enzymatic hydrolysate at 280, 400 or 600 mg per day in two divided doses for 3 weeks. 76 volunteers were randomized into four arms of 19; 63 completed. Designed, conducted and funded by the manufacturer, BrainOn Inc. (Kang et al. 2018, Nutrients)
Healthy Korean volunteers aged 28 to 92 (average 55), 76 percent women, recruited at religious meetings, social gatherings and senior centers. Memory complaints were not required for entry.
Memory quotient rose 8.9, 17.5 and 24.8 percent at 280, 400 and 600 mg per day, against a non-significant 2.5 percent rise on placebo. Words remembered, memory retention and complex figure recall also improved at 400 and 600 mg. Two endpoints were null: the learning gradient (p = 0.7440) and retrieval efficiency (p = 0.3959) did not differ from placebo. No adverse effects were reported over the 3 weeks.