Research Updates

The Cognitive Health Category, Defining Users Needs

Cognitive health supplementation over the last decade has consumers seeking to improve attention, energy, and overall cognitive performance.


The cognitive health supplement market has grown significantly over the past decade, with consumers increasingly seeking supplements to improve their brain function, attention, focus, energy, and overall cognitive performance. The global cognitive health supplement market is projected to reach $10.8B by 2026, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1% from 2021 to 2026.[1] The market growth is driven by two factors: an aging population wanting to ward off memory decline or impairment and a younger population with a desire to increase attention, concentration and vigilance. While the aging population and younger demographic consumers’ cognitive health goals target different benefit areas, one goal is optimizing their overall brain health to perform their daily activities at their maximum.

18-55 Cognitive Health Users

The younger cognitive health users look for benefits that will allow them to perform their best at task. This consumer group includes college students, professionals, and athletes looking to enhance their cognitive abilities to perform better academically, professionally, or athletically. The benefits this group seeks include energy boost for studying for a college exam, enhanced focus at an important meeting, or increased reaction time for competitive sports. This group of users is more conscious about science-backed ingredients and their benefits, as well as natural or plant-based supplements. They look for products that meet their specific cognitive health needs, have positive reviews from similar users, and have research-backed benefits.

55+ Cognitive Health Users

The aging cognitive health consumer is defined as those that are 55+ and are looking for supplements to improve their cognitive function, memory, focus, and overall brain health. This group of consumers includes seniors, active nutrition retirees, and individuals experiencing age-related cognitive decline. This population tends to buy products focusing on age-related benefits or preventative measures to protect their cognitive abilities as they age. They are also attracted to products with benefits that can help slow down cognitive decline. This group looks for products specifically formulated for their age that are scientifically-backed and include products with crossover benefits that meet their nutritional needs.

Crossover Categories

More recently, as the cognitive health category continues to explode, crossover benefits which include mood, stress, and sleep, are being incorporated into brain health products. Supplement manufacturers are incorporating mood-enhancing and stress-reducing ingredients into cognitive health formulations to represent a more dual mechanistic approach to this category. Another category that includes cognitive health ingredients in their formulation is sports nutrition. As the sports nutrition category continues to innovate its pre-and post-workout products, cognitive ingredients for enhanced focus, energy, and reaction time are included in formulations. These consumers look for these cognitive health benefits for more productive workouts and to get a competitive edge on the field.

Biofortis Clinical Studies

Biofortis offers recruitment and screening of participants with various demographics, including pediatric to elderly and healthy to multiple levels of cognitive impairment. Biofortis’ expertise with testing domain pre-and post-dose product consumption includes a wide range of cognitive health areas. These testing domains have short-term recognition memory, attention, thinking speed, mood, reasoning, reaction time, concentration, and planning.

Biofortis is dedicated to protecting consumers’ health and wellness by delivering a wide range of clinical services for the food, supplement, and nutrition industries.  With over 400 completed studies and 15 years of experience, Biofortis has a leading clinical research team focusing on developing innovative new ingredients, foods, dietary supplements, and nutrition programs.

At the forefront of its offerings, Biofortis’ clinical research provides its clients with dependable science with exceptional on-time budget track records.  The company’s team of experienced scientific and dedicated project managers guide clients through the entire research process.  The robust subject database has more than 20,000 research-integrated subjects for rapid recruitment and an advanced research facility where execution of clinical trials is the company’s top priority.

[1] Grandview Research Brain Health Supplements Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Natural Molecules, Vitamins & Minerals), By Application (Memory Enhancement, Attention & Focus), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 – 2030

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