Schisandra and Vitamin C can synergistically enhance cognitive ability

New Korean studies on mice have shown that the combination of vitamin C and schisandra extract can enhance learning, memory and cognitive abilities.

 
Data published in the Journal of Nutrition shows that this combination promotes cognitive improvement by enhancing mitochondrial respiration.

 
Researchers at the Chungnam National University School of Medicine in Korea and the Natural Product Research Team at the Gyeonggi-do Business and Science Accelerator explained: "The decline in mitochondrial function is related to cognitive decline caused by synaptic plastic disorders. However, there are no clinical natural compounds Mitochondria can be manipulated. The combined use of schisandra extract (SCE) and AA [ascorbic acid] can enhance mitochondrial respiration and improve cognitive function by inducing the expression of key synaptic proteins in the hippocampus of the brain. "

 
This study was carried out using mice, and other repetitive experiments were required, including experiments conducted under human intervention. The researchers pointed out that the combination of schisandra extract and vitamin C has the potential to slow the decline of cognitive ability in the elderly.

 

Research details

 
The researchers administered schisandra extract, vitamin C or a mixture of schisandra extract and vitamin C to 8-week-old male C57BL / 6 mice once a day for three consecutive days.

 
The results showed that mice receiving the combination of Schisandra and Vitamin C showed enhanced learning, memory, and cognitive abilities.

 
Cognitive performance data came from the New Object Cognition (NOR) test, which allowed mice to explore two identical objects equidistant from the center of the enclosure. In the second phase of the experiment, one of the objects was replaced by another new object.

 
The researchers pointed out that mice receiving the combination of schisandra and vitamin C increased the average time to explore new objects by 26.6 seconds for relatively familiar subjects, while the control mice increased the average time to explore new objects by 2.4 seconds. Analysis of the exploration time of new and familiar objects (expressed as a percentage of the total exploration time in the second phase) showed that mice receiving the combination of schisandra and vitamin C had more exploration time for new objects than familiar objects compared to control mice 48.1%, while the control group had 14.3% more.

 
These results indicate that the mixture of schisandra extract and ascorbic acid (SCE-AA) significantly enhances the recognition memory of brain hippocampus-dependent objects. "

 
Other in vitro studies have shown that the combination of schisandra and vitamin C can increase the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is known to play an important role in memory and learning.

 
These observations indicate that the mixture of Schisandra chinensis extract and ascorbic acid (SCE-AA) mainly affects the memory storage of the hippocampus, and is accompanied by an effect on the formation of memory in the frontal cortex.