The body manufactures an important neurohormone called acetylcholine from the B vitamin choline. Acetylcholine is needed to convey motor and sensory signals from one nerve cell to the next along the nerve path. It also regulates the flow of nerve signals and is essential for all brain functions, especially memory. When there isn’t enough acetylcholine in the brain and nerve cells, a person experiences symptoms ranging from depression, sluggish behavior, fatigue, slowed reflexes, muddled thinking, and poor memory to nervousness, anxiety and hyperkinetic behavior. When acetylcholine is adequately supplied, these disappear as brain and nerve functions are normalized. But when acetylcholine levels are further increased by supplementation, energy, reflexes, mental alertness, mood, memory, and learning ability often improve beyond the normal.

Despite good nutrition and plenty of dietary and supplemental choline, many people (perhaps up to 75% of the population) have acetylcholine deficiencies. This generally occurs because the ‘blood-brain barrier’ — the membranous shield that keeps toxic waste products in the circulation from entering the brain and central nervous system — can also block some necessary substances from gaining entry. Choline must be converted by the liver into its lipid-soluble form before it can cross this barrier and be turned into acetylcholine.

If the body’s ability to produce this form of choline is less than ideal, acetylcholine levels are likely to be low. There is an alternative way to increase acetylcholine, however. Dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), also known as Deanol, is a safe, natural substance that easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. In the brain and nerve cells it is converted first to choline and then to acetylcholine. In a sense DMAE may be regarded as a biochemical Trojan Horse.

DMAE is a very efficient antioxidant and free radical deactivator. It stabilizes lyposome membranes, preventing rupture of these scavenger bodies, which would result in leakage of collected toxins and protein-damaging enzymes. It reverses the formation of lipofuscin that causes so-called ‘aging spots’ or ‘liver spots’. This pigment also tends to clog brain and nerve cells as we age. DMAE also helps prevent sludging or clumping of red blood cells and makes more of them available for carrying oxygen to the tissues.

DMAE also has several positive influences on red blood cells. It has been found that the addition of DMAE to whole blood stored for transfusion purposes doubles its storage life. When DMAE was added to the drinking water of mice that were already past the expected lifespan of mice, they lived 36.6% longer than than the controls. This indicates that it may be one of the only life-extension substances that is significantly effective even when started late in life.

Because of its ability to improve muscle reflexes and increase oxygen efficiency, many top athletes now take DMAE to improve performance and gain a competitive edge.