This is interesting. I wonder what else ginseng does.
Cognitive effects of two
nutraceuticals Ginseng and
Bacopa benchmarked against
modafinil: a review and
comparison of effect sizes.
Neale C, et al. Show all
Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2013
Mar;75(3):728-37. doi: 10.1111/
bcp.12002.
Centre for Human
Psychopharmacology, Swinburne
University, Melbourne, Vic. 3122,
Australia.
Abstract
Over recent years there has been
increasing research into both
pharmaceutical and nutraceutical
cognition enhancers. Here we aimed
to calculate the effect sizes of positive
cognitive effect of the pharmaceutical
modafinil in order to benchmark the
effect of two widely used
nutraceuticals Ginseng and Bacopa
(which have consistent acute and
chronic cognitive effects,
respectively). A search strategy was
implemented to capture clinical
studies into the neurocognitive
effects of modafinil, Ginseng and
Bacopa. Studies undertaken on
healthy human subjects using a
double-blind, placebo-controlled
design were included. For each study
where appropriate data were
included, effect sizes (Cohen's d)
were calculated for measures
showing significant positive and
negative effects of treatment over
placebo. The highest effect sizes for
cognitive outcomes were 0.77 for
modafinil (visuospatial memory
accuracy), 0.86 for Ginseng (simple
reaction time) and 0.95 for Bacopa
(delayed word recall). These data
confirm that neurocognitive
enhancement from well
characterized nutraceuticals can
produce cognition enhancing effects
of similar magnitude to those from
pharmaceutical interventions. Future
research should compare these
effects directly in clinical trials.
© 2012 The Authors. British Journal
of Clinical Pharmacology © 2012 The
British Pharmacological Society.
PMID 23043278 [PubMed - in
process]
PMCID PMC3575939 [Available on
2014/3/1]
Full text: Blackwell Publishing
http://onlinelibrary.../bcp.12002/full
Edited by noos, 04 April 2013 - 02:35 AM.
