Effect of nutraceutical and psychological interventions on cognitive functions of healthy human subjects

Abstract

95-102Present study aims to evaluate the effects of nutraceutical and psychological interventions individually and in combination, on various cognitive functions of healthy human subjects. Twenty four healthy subjects were recruited and subdivided into three intervention groups, i.e. nutraceutical, psychological and combined. Pre- (base line) & post-intervention performance levels of all the subjects were established for each cognitive function using neuropsychological tests. These were further compared to understand the effect of interventions on the cognitive functions. A polyherbal liquid formulation<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold; mso-bidi-font-style:italic"> was administered as Nutraceutical Intervention. Twelve sessions of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy were given as Psychological Intervention. Combined intervention consisted of Nutraceutical & Psychological Interventions together. All the interventions were administered for a period of 3 months each. Results of the study indicate significant improvement in overall memory and attention in all the intervention groups. Immediate memory was also found to be improved significantly in psychological and combined intervention group<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-GB">s<span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US">. However individual pre and post analysis indicated improvement in immediate memory in most of the subjects in all the intervention groups Combined intervention has shown significant improvement in all the cognitive functions except in cognitive processing speed, planning and organizing abilities. The findings of present study, thus, indicate that the nutraceutical and psychological interventions (used in this study) are likely to have positive influence on the cognitive functions of healthy human subjects. However, better results were obtained when used in combination. </span