Single doses of panax ginseng (G115) reduce blood glucose levels and improve cognitive performance during sustained mental activity

Reay, Jonathon, Kennedy, David and Scholey, Andrew (2005) Single doses of panax ginseng (G115) reduce blood glucose levels and improve cognitive performance during sustained mental activity. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 19 (4). pp. 357-365. ISSN 0269-8811

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Abstract

Single doses of the traditional herbal treatment Panax ginseng have recently been shown to elicit cognitive improvements in healthy young volunteers. The mechanisms by which ginseng improves cognitive performance are not known. However, they may be related to the glycaemic properties of some Panax species. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, balanced crossover design, 30 healthy young adults completed a 10min test battery at baseline, and then six times in immediate succession commencing 60min after the day’s treatment (placebo, 200mg G115 or 400mg G115). The 10 min battery comprised a Serial Threes subtraction task (2min); a Serial Sevens task (2min); a Rapid Visual Information Processing task (5min); then a ‘mental fatigue’ visual analogue scale. Blood glucose was measured prior to each day’s treatment, and before, during and after the post-dose completions of the battery. Both the 200mg and 400mg treatments led to significant reductions in blood glucose levels at all three post-treatment measurements (p 0.005 in all cases). The most notable behavioural effects were associated with 200mg of ginseng and included significantly improved Serial Sevens subtraction task performance and significantly reduced subjective mental fatigue throughout all (with the exception of one time point in each case) of the post-dose completions of the 10min battery (p 0.05). Overall these data suggest that Panax ginseng can improve performance and subjective feelings of mental fatigue during sustained mental activity. This effect may be related to the acute gluco-regulatory properties of the extract.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	B200 Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	EPrint Services
Date Deposited:	10 Dec 2008 08:54
Last Modified:	31 Jul 2021 08:40
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/723

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