Oral Cerebrolysin (R) enhances brain alpha activity and improves cognitiveperformance in elderly control subjects

Cerebrolysin(R) is a porcine brain derived peptide preparation with potenti al neurotrophic activity. The effects of a single oral dose of the Cerebrol ysin(R) solution (30 ml) on brain bioelectrical activity and on cognitive p erformance were investigated in healthy elderly people. A single oral dose of Cerebrolysin(R) induced a progressive increase in relative alpha activit y power from 1 to 6 hours after treatment in almost all the brain electrode s in elderly control subjects. As compared with baseline alpha power (45.8 +/- 9.5%), the increase in relative alpha activity in the left occipital el ectrode (O1) reached significant values at 1 hour (57.2 +/- 8.5%; p < 0.05) , 3 hours (59.4 +/- 7.6%; p < 0.05) and 6 hours (63.4 +/- 9.8%; p < 0.05) a fter Cerebrolysin(R) administration. Enhancement in relative alpha power wa s accompanied by a generalized decrease in slow delta activity that was max imum at 6 hours after Cerebrolysin(R) intake. A significant improvement in memory performance, evaluated with items of the ADAS cog, was also found in elderly people taken a single dose of oral Cerebrolysin(R) (6.9 +/- 1.0 er rors at baseline versus 4.9 +/- 1.0 errors after treatment; p < 0.01). This memory improvement was more evident in recognition (2.8 +/- 0.6 errors vs. 1.5 +/- 0.7 errors; p < 0.05) than in recall tasks (4.1 +/- 0.5 errors ver sus 3.4 +/- 0.5 errors; ns). These data indicate that Cerebrolysin(R) poten tiates brain alpha activity, reduces slow EEG delta frequencies and improve s memory performance in healthy elderly humans, suggesting that this compou nd activates cerebral mechanisms related to attention and memory processes. According to the present results, it seems that oral Cerebrolysin(R) might be useful for the treatment of memory impairment and brain damage in elder ly subjects with or without neurodegenerative disorders.