Effects of Korean Red Ginseng on Cognitive and Motor Function: A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial

Abstract

Ginseng has a long history of use for health enhancement, and there is some evidence from animal studies that it has a beneficial effect on cognitive performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Korean red ginseng on cognitive performance in humans. A total of 15 healthy young males with no psychiatric or cognitive problems were selected based on an interview with a board-certified psychiatrist. The subjects were randomly assigned to receive a daily dose of 4,500 mg red ginseng or placebo for a 2-week trial. There were 8 subjects in the red ginseng group and 7 subjects in the placebo group. All of the subjects were analyzed with the Vienna test system and a P300 event-related potential (ERP) test. There were no significant differences in the Vienna test system scores between the red ginseng group and the placebo group. In the event-related potential test, the C3 latency of the red ginseng group tended to decrease during the study period (p=0.005). After 2 wk, significant decreases were observed in the P300 latencies at Cz (p=0.008), C3 (p=0.005), C4 (p=0.002), and C mean (p=0.003) in the red ginseng group. Our results suggest that the decreased latency in ERP is associated with improved cognitive function. Further studies with a higher dosage of ginseng, a larger sample size, and a longer follow-up period are necessary to confirm the clinical efficacy of Korean red ginseng.

Ginseng for Health Care: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials in Korean Literature

“…Twenty-eight trials originated from Korea [28]–[55], and two trials were conducted in Thailand [26] and the United Kingdom [27]. Sixteen studies [28], [32]–[41], [44]–[47], [53] were published in Korean, and 14 trials [26], [27], [29]–[31], [42], [43], [48]–[52], [54], [55] were written in English.…”

“…The key data from studies in healthy persons are summarised in Table 1 [26]–[34], and the data regarding other various conditions are summarised in Table 2 [35]–[55]. The included RCTs used ginseng powder either in raw (4 studies) [35], [38], [53], [55] or in capsules (22 studies) [26]–[29], [31], [32], [34], [36], [37], [39]–[41], [43]–[48], [50]–[52], [54] and extract preparation (2 studies) [33], [42], while two studies [30], [49] did not report the preparation type of ginseng. They addressed a wide range of conditions: generally healthy (i.e., studies in healthy individuals) [26]–[34], erectile dysfunction [35]–[40], gastric cancer [41], [43], colon cancer [42], gastrointestinal carcinoma [44], chronic gastritis [45], diabetes mellitus [46], [47], androgenic alopecia [48], coronary artery [49], dry mouth [50], glaucoma [51], obesity [52], metabolic syndrome [53], dyspepsia and indigestion [54] and Alzheimer’s disease [55].…”

“…Most studies did not clearly report how the allocation concealment was generated; only five RCTs [27], [32], [50]–[52] employed allocation concealment. Seventeen RCTs [26]–[29], [31], [32], [34], [35], [38], [40], [47]–[53] reported double blinding (patient/practitioner). Only three of these RCTs [32], [34], [35] adopted assessor blinding.…”

Proteomic Analysis of the Effect of Korean Red Ginseng in the Striatum of a Parkinson’s Disease Mouse Model

“…Actually, several studies showed that ginseng alleviates motor dysfunction of rats that have undergone spinal cord injury [14] and KRG improves motor and cognitive functions in normal subjects [15], which can be considered a basis of its tonifying effects.…”

The Efficacy of Red Ginseng in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Animals

“…Recently, RG has been shown to improve cognitive function related to the auditory pathway using electrophysiologic evaluation [26]. …”