Rosemary oil boosts cognitive function

In 1848 Phineas P. Gage (picture below), a railroad construction foreman, survived an accident in which he lost most of his brain's left frontal lobe [2]. Most surprisingly Mr. Gage only reported personality and behavioral changes, but much of his cognitive function remained intact, but who doesn't have a bad day after loosing half of his brain?

This was the first case in which a human being managed to survive the lost of such a big amount of brain without loosing his cognitive function, and a very descriptive way to illustrate how we don't really use 100% of our brain, in fact it is generally believed we only use 10%.

ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS

Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Rosmarinus
Common name: Rosemary

BOOSTING YOUR COGNITIVE FUNCTION LIMITLESS

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You may also remember the movie Limitless (see trailer below), a 2011 thriller movie by Neil Burger in which Bradley Cooper, plays a desperate writer dumped by his girlfriend that fails to meet the deadlines imposed by the publishers of his new book, without inspiration to even start writing it until the brother of his ex-wife, a drug dealer, offers him a pill that allows him to access 100% of his brain, giving him a real boost of his cognitive functions.

After that Neil manages to write the book in no time, becomes a powerful business man and gets a boost of self confidence. We know it's simply a movie, but what if there was something out there that could help us access that 90% that we can't use under normal conditions?

ROSEMARY OIL BOOSTS COGNITIVE FUNCTION

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Some days ago, Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver, two researchers from the Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Center at Northumbria University in the UK published the results of an experiment in which an active constituent found in Rosemary oil (Rosmarinus officinalis), namely the 1,8-cineole, was directly and proportionally related to an improvement of the cognitive function on twenty healthy volunteers that participated in the experiment.

The performance related improvement varied with the concentration of 1,8-cineole, being higher at higher concentrations of 1,8-cineole [3]. In spite the relationship between Rosemary 1,8-cineole and mood was also tested, the results were no as significant as those obtained on other cognitive function performance tests.

The use of Rosemary to improve cognitive function is not new. Other studies on Rosemary properties showed its potential role in reducing widespread cognitive decline in the elderly [1]. In a placebo-controlled study among 28 adults older with a mean age of 75 years, Rosemary had a significant beneficial effect on speed of memory compared to those in the placebo group [1].

In another study, rosemary was used in combination with lemon essential oils in the morning, and lavender and orange in the evening, to treat with Aromatherapy 28 elderly people, among which 17 got Alzheimer's disease. The results showed a considerable improvement in cognitive functions on those receiving the aromatherapy treatment, showing it could be an efficacious non-pharmacological therapy for dementia. Aromatherapy may have some potential for improving cognitive function, especially in Alzheimer's disease patients [6].

Where can we find 1,8-cineole?

In spite the study performed by Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver was focused on Rosemary oil, the amount of 1,8-cineole present in Rosemary oil (15.74%) is significantly lower than in other herbs [4], where it is also found with other phytochemicals as camphor (27.59%), α-pinene (16.58%) and β-myrcene (10.02%) [4].

Other herbs as Anthemis pseudocotula and Anthemis cretica subspecies pontica (Asteraceae family), have higher amounts of 1,8-cineole (39.40%) [5], being their other active constituents camphor (9.36%), artemisiaketone (5.68%), filifolene (5.15%), a-terpineol (4.69%), beta-caryophyllene (20.26%), azulene (14.98%), spathulenol (6.03%), and germacrene D (5.82%) [5].

Artemisia annua contained a total of 14.9% of 1,8-cineole [20]. In Eucalyptus loxophleba the total content of 1,8-cineole reached 39.4% [21].

Other active constituents found in Rosemary include carnosol, a promising cancer chemoprevention and anti-cancer agent [25] and carnosic acid [24],  a compound known to exert many medicinal properties, and a potent antioxidant that protects skin cells against UV-A radiation (photoprotection), found in some studies in animals to be natural protection against carcinogens [25].

REFERENCES

[1] Short-term study on the effects of rosemary on cognitive function in an elderly population. Pengelly A, Snow J, Mills SY, Scholey A, Wesnes K, Butler LR. Herbal Medicine Department, Tai Sophia Institute, Laurel, Maryland 20723, USA.

[2] Wikipedia Phineas Gage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage)

[3]Plasma 1,8-cineole correlates with cognitive performance following exposure to rosemary essential oil aroma. Mark Moss, Lorraine Oliver. Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Centre, Northumbria University, Newcastle. Abstract published on Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology,
http://tpp.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/02/24/2045125312436573.abstract.

[4] Rosmarinus officinalis L. essential oil inhibits in vivo and in vitro leukocyte migration. Nogueira de Melo GA, Grespan R, Fonseca JP, Farinha TO, Silva EL, Romero AL, Bersani-Amado CA, Cuman RK. Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, State University of Maringá, Maringá, Brazil.

[5] Composition of the volatile oils of two Anthemis L. taxa from Turkey. Kilic O, Kocak A, Bagci E. Bingol University, Art and Science Faculty, Biology Department, Bingol, Turkey

[6] Effect of aromatherapy on patients with Alzheimer's disease. Jimbo D, Kimura Y, Taniguchi M, Inoue M, Urakami K. Department of Biological Regulation, School of Health Science, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Japan.

[7] The c4h, tat, hppr and hppd Genes Prompted Engineering of Rosmarinic Acid Biosynthetic Pathway in Salvia miltiorrhiza Hairy Root Cultures. Xiao Y, Zhang L, Gao S, Saechao S, Di P, Chen J, Chen W. Department of Pharmacy, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

[8] The effect of rosmarinic acid on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine induced colon carcinogenesis. Venkatachalam K, Gunasekaran S, Jesudoss VA, Namasivayam N. Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 608002, Tamilnadu, India.

[9] Neurorescue Effect of Rosmarinic Acid on 6-Hydroxydopamine-Lesioned Nigral Dopamine Neurons in Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease. Wang J, Xu H, Jiang H, Du X, Sun P, Xie J. Department of Neurosurgery, the Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266003, China.

[10] Antioxidant Capacity and Polyphenolic Composition as Quality Indicators for Aqueous Infusions of Salvia officinalis L. (sage tea). Walch SG, Tinzoh LN, Zimmermann BF, Stühlinger W, Lachenmeier DW. Department for Public Health and Health Technology Assessment, University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology Hall in Tyrol, Austria.

[11] Antitumor initiating potential of rosmarinic acid in 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. Anusuya C, Manoharan S. Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India.

[12] Phenolic acid contents, essential oil compositions and antioxidant activities of two varieties of Salvia euphratica from Turkey. Yumrutas O, Sokmen A, Akpulat HA, Ozturk N, Daferera D, Sokmen M, Tepe B. a Department of Biology , Faculty of Art and Science, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep 27310 , Turkey.

[13] Anti-proliferative effect of Melissa officinalis on human colon cancer cell line. Encalada MA, Hoyos KM, Rehecho S, Berasategi I, de Ciriano MG, Ansorena D, Astiasarán I, Navarro-Blasco I, Cavero RY, Calvo MI. Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Navarra, C/Irunlarrea s/n, Pamplona, Spain.

[14] Rosemary and cancer prevention: preclinical perspectives. Ngo SN, Williams DB, Head RJ. School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, Australia.

[15] Administration of rosmarinic acid reduces cardiopathology and blood pressure through inhibition of p22phox NADPH oxidase in fructose-fed hypertensive rats. Karthik D, Viswanathan P, Anuradha CV. Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India.

[16] Administration of rosmarinic acid reduces cardiopathology and blood pressure through inhibition of p22phox NADPH oxidase in fructose-fed hypertensive rats. Karthik D, Viswanathan P, Anuradha CV. Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India.

[17] Cytotoxic and cell cycle effects induced by two herbal extracts on human cervix carcinoma and human breast cancer cell lines. Stanojkovic TP, Konic-Ristic A, Juranic ZD, Savikin K, Zdunic G, Menkovic N, Jadranin M. Department of Experimental Oncology, Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.

[18] Inhibition of bone metastasis from breast carcinoma by rosmarinic acid. Xu Y, Jiang Z, Ji G, Liu J. State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering & School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, P. R. China.

[19] Olive oil, an essential component of the Mediterranean diet, and breast cancer. Escrich E, Moral R, Solanas M. Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Physiology Unit, Medicine School, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.

[20] Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the volatile oil from seeds of Artemisia annua L. from Iran. Habibi Z, Ghanian S, Ghasemi S, Yousefi M. Department of Chemistry , Faculty of Science, Shahid Beheshti University , G.C., Eveen , Tehran , Iran.

[21] Chemical composition of essential oil and in vitro antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extracts of Eucalyptus loxophleba. Rahimi-Nasrabadi M, Ahmadi F, Batooli H. Department of Chemistry , Imam Hossein University , Tehran , Iran.

[22] Public domain image of Phineas Gage: Wikipedia via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage. The image This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923. Public domain works must be out of copyright in both the United States and in the source country of the work in order to be hosted on the Commons.

[23] Plant names: Porcher Michel H. et al. 1995 - 2020, Sorting Rosmarinus Names. Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database   (M.M.P.N.D)  - A Work in Progress. School of Agriculture and Food Systems. Faculty of Land & Food Resources. The University of Melbourne. Australia. 
< http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Rosmarinus.html > (2007)

[24] Carnosic acid and carnosol, phenolic diterpene compounds of the labiate herbs rosemary and sage, are activators of the human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma.
Rau O, Wurglics M, Paulke A, Zitzkowski J, Meindl N, Bock A, Dingermann T, Abdel-Tawab M, Schubert-Zsilavecz M.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry/ZAFES, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.

[25] Wikipedia articles on Carnosic acid and Rosemary.