The commercials for Prevagen cite a single “double-blind, placebo-controlledâ€ memory study for apoaequorin, the advertised “activeâ€ ingredient in Prevagen. To the best of my knowledge, that study has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal and was led by Kenneth C. Lerner of Quincy Bioscience, LLC, the manufacturer of Prevagen, not by an independent researcher. The study was only three months long, involving 218 adults with self-reported “memory problemsâ€. While the company-sponsored study reported improved verbal learning and recall compared to the placebo, this was seen only in those who did not have significant memory problems. A second study, which I cannot find on the company website, is reported to have involved 56 people. It likewise does not appear to have been peer-reviewed and was not blinded, that is, both the participants and the researchers knew who was getting Prevagen. Participants getting Prevagen were said to have claimed memory improvements in a questionnaire. There are also two favorable safety studies reported on the company websites. However, there have also been several thousand “adverse eventâ€ reports on Prevagen to the FDA. From a mechanistic perspective, it is not entirely obvious how Prevagen would work. Apoaequorin, the main ingredient in Prevagen, binds to calcium and is theorized to reduce calcium in the brain which is believed to interfere with short term memory. However, it is not clear whether much oral apoaequorin passes through the brain barrier as opposed to being degraded into its constituent amino acids. I am not a medical professional, but as a scientist I would be leery of the claims made for Prevagen in the absence of further and peer-reviewed research. I share the Federal Trade Commission’s skepticism.