Department of Psychiatry, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 136-705, Korea.
J Ginseng Res. 2012 Apr;36(2):190-7. doi: 10.5142/jgr.2012.36.2.190.
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.
人参在增强健康方面有着悠久的历史，并且有一些动物研究的证据表明它对认知表现有有益的影响。本研究的目的是调查红参对人体认知表现的影响。根据与认证精神病医生的访谈，共选择了 15 名没有精神或认知问题的健康年轻男性作为研究对象。受试者被随机分配接受每日剂量为 4500 毫克红参或安慰剂的为期 2 周的试验。红参组有 8 名受试者，安慰剂组有 7 名受试者。所有受试者均采用维也纳测试系统和 P300 事件相关电位（ERP）测试进行分析。红参组和安慰剂组的维也纳测试系统评分无显著差异。在事件相关电位测试中，红参组的 C3 潜伏期在研究期间呈下降趋势（p=0.005）。2 周后，红参组 Cz（p=0.008）、C3（p=0.005）、C4（p=0.002）和 C 均值（p=0.003）的 P300 潜伏期显著降低。我们的结果表明，ERP 潜伏期的降低与认知功能的改善有关。需要进一步进行剂量更高、样本量更大和随访时间更长的研究，以确认红参的临床疗效。
