TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– Phosphatidylserine (PS) extracted from both bovine cortex and soya beans has been previously reported to positively affect cognitive functioning, mood, and the capacity to cope with stress. The present paper aims to investigate whether the daily intake of phospholipid concentrate (PL) rich in phosphatidylserine (PS) and sphingomyelin (SM) has similar beneficial effects on working memory, allostastic load and the acute stress response.Design/methodology/approach– A total of 46 healthy men (average 41.5 years) received either placebo or 13.5 g per day PL over a three‐week period. On the 21st day of PL intake, subjects' working memory performance and their psychological and endocrine responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) were tested.Findings– Compared to placebo‐exposed individuals, there was a tendency for shorter reaction times in the working memory task, suggesting better performance in PL‐treated subjects. The two treatment groups did not significantly differ in their endocrine stress response. However, PL‐treated subjects with a higher stress load showed a blunted psychological stress response.Practical implications– Results of the present study show beneficial effects of PL intake on cognitive performance. Under acute stress, benefits of PL may only be visible in chronically stressed subjects.Originality/value– This paper provides new information for practitioners, academics and food supplement industries interested in possible beneficial effects of a milk phospholipid product on memory and mental stress. VL - 112 IS - 10 SN - 0007-070X DO - 10.1108/00070701011080258 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/00070701011080258 AU - Hellhammer Juliane AU - Waladkhani Ali‐Reza AU - Hero Torsten AU - Buss Claudia PY - 2010 Y1 - 2010/01/01 TI - Effects of milk phospholipid on memory and psychological stress response T2 - British Food Journal PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 1124 EP - 1137 Y2 - 2024/04/25 ER -