Boron for Cognitive Function
There is no reliable evidence that boron supplements improve memory, attention, or overall cognitive function in healthy or impaired adults. The few available human studies only suggest that boron deficiency may dull brain function, which is a different question from whether topping up above a normal diet helps.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
The grade is Unverified because the human evidence is essentially a single study. The only trial with cognitive endpoints, Penland 1994 (PMID 7889884), was a small within-subject crossover from one USDA lab that compared a deprivation diet (~0.25 mg/day) against an adequate intake (~3.25 mg/day). It found worse attention, eye-hand coordination, and short-term memory plus slowed EEG activity under deprivation, but reported no sample size or standardized effect size and has never been independently replicated.
Critically, this is a deficiency-versus-adequate comparison, so it cannot show that supplementing above a normal diet sharpens cognition. The supporting literature adds little: a 1998 review (PMID 10050926) found scant support for benefit, a rat study (PMID 16910176) and two narrative reviews (PMID 29546541, PMID 39515586) describe only mixed or preclinical, mechanism-level signals for Alzheimer's pathways. No meta-analysis, Cochrane review, or RCT in MCI or dementia exists.
Authorities reinforce caution rather than endorsement. EFSA concluded no cause-and-effect relationship is established for boron's health claims and set a 10 mg/day upper limit, while WHO advises avoiding supplements that exceed its tolerable intake. NIH notes only that boron *deficiency* might impair brain function, and the Alzheimer's Association states no supplement is proven to benefit cognition. The honest read is mechanistically interesting but clinically unproven.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.427
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 高品質 SR/MA 顯示 positive (1 篇 > 0 negative)
- tier_strict_requirement_check — | C→U 因 scope.conflation_risk=true 且 L11 獨評較低 (B7-2 tier cap)
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 0 個 hard + 0 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status