Brain Scans Showing How Methylene Blue Affects the Human Brain

Multimodal Randomized Functional MR Imaging of the Effects of Methylene Blue in the Human Brain (2016)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27875954/

This randomized controlled trial investigated methylene blue's effects on cognitive function in 26 healthy subjects aged 22-62 years. Participants receiving a low dose (280 mg or approximately 4 mg/kg) of methylene blue demonstrated increased insular fMRI activity during sustained attention and short-term memory tasks compared to those receiving placebo, providing direct neuroimaging evidence of methylene blue's effects on brain function2.

The treatment group also showed significantly improved memory retrieval, with a 7% enhancement compared to the placebo group. These findings suggest that methylene blue may acutely enhance specific cognitive functions in healthy individuals through modulation of brain activity in regions associated with attention and memory processing, opening potential avenues for cognitive enhancement applications2.