The Intellect Tree (aka. Jyotishmati; Celastrus paniculatus) is a woody climbing shrub in the Celastraceae family from Asia, bearing small yellowish flowers and globose capsules containing bright red arils around dark seeds.
➡️This is a plant with a long traditional use for improving cognitive performance; thus its common name. What is also striking is the rapidity of its cognitive effects upon consumption.
In traditional Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine systems, the seed and its oil are used as a medhya rasayana (nootropic) for cognitive dysfunction, memory loss, epilepsy, insomnia, paralysis, and other nervous system disorders. Across Himalayan and central Indian ethnomedicine, various preparations are also applied for rheumatism, gout, joint pain, hemorrhoids, skin diseases like leprosy, and as a general rejuvenative and nerve tonic, with dosing thought to shift its actions from stimulant to sedative.
Through scientific investigation, The Intellect Tree has been found to exhibit nootropic, neuroprotective, anti-Alzheimer, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antiarthritic, gastroprotective, wound-healing, antibacterial, antimalarial, cytotoxic, ACE-inhibitory, antidiabetic, and insecticidal activities.
A notable preclinical study showed that Intellect Tree seed oil reversed chronic stress–induced spatial learning and memory deficits and reduced anxiety-like behavior, with significantly better in radial arm maze and T-maze tasks in treatment groups than stressed controls. Another recent study demonstrated that seed extract reduced seizure severity and ameliorated associated cognitive deficits in a pentylenetetrazole-kindling model, with neuroprotection observed in the hippocampus and frontal cortex.
The Intellect Tree 🌟
