Abstract

IN VIVO EVALUATION OF BRAHMA RASAYANA AS A COGNITIVE ENHANCER IN D-GALACTOSE INDUCED COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN MICE

Sathiyaseelan K.* and Dr. Jayshree N.

ABSTRACT

Cognition refers to thinking and the intellectual skills that allow a person to perceive, acquire, understand and respond to information. The disorders that affect cognition includes neurodegenerative disorders, vascular disorders and infectious process. Cognitive impairments are deficits in the processes by which persons perceive, encode, store, retrieve and use information. Brahma Rasayana (BR) is one of the ayurvedic formulations which claims to improve intelligence, memory and immune power. The present study was designed to evaluate cognitive enhancing property of BR by using Morris water maze and Y-maze models. In addition, the locomotor activity of BR was evaluated by using open field apparatus and Actophotometer. D-Galactose was used as an inducing agent to induce cognitive impairment in mice. The evaluations were performed on day 0, 49 and 79. On all these studies it was seen that BR, especially at the higher dose (2g/kg p.o), was able to reverse the cognitive impairment induced by D-Galactose (100mg/kg s.c). Hence BR appears to be a promising formulation for improving memory and cognition and it could be a valuable management for cognitive impairments of various causes.

Keywords: Cognitive enhancer, Brahma rasayana, Memory, Morris water maze.