Research area

Cognitive research

Compounds studied in cognitive research research: what each trial measured, and links to the sources.

Semax

Clinical evidence

Approved in Russia for stroke and brain-injury recovery based on real clinical trials there; smaller studies in healthy volunteers show attention and memory improvements. The findings await independent Western replication.

Semax holds Russian pharmaceutical approval for acute ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, optic nerve pathology, and cognitive enhancement in organic brain dysfunction. A 110-patient trial (Gusev et al., 2018) found intranasal Semax raised BDNF and improved motor/functional recovery scores over ~5 months in post-stroke patients; an earlier controlled trial (Gusev et al., 2001) found it accelerated neurological recovery after acute ischemic stroke. In healthy volunteers, doses of 250–1000mcg/kg improved attention and short-term memory with EEG changes similar to other neuroprotective drugs. Caveat: this evidence comes from Russian trials awaiting independent Western replication, and much of it involves stroke and brain-injury patients; a healthy adult is a different context.

Sources

Selank

Clinical evidence

Russian clinical studies (800+ patients across trials) report anxiety relief comparable to benzodiazepines, without the sedation or dependence risk. Large Western RCTs are still to come.

Reported across trials totaling 800+ patients, with anxiolytic effects described as comparable to benzodiazepines (e.g. vs. medazepam, vs. phenazepam) while leaving sedation, cognitive impairment and dependence out of the profile. Standardized anxiety scales (Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale) and physiological stress markers (blood pressure, cortisol) reportedly improved vs. placebo. Caveat: large-scale, Western-style randomized controlled trials remain to be published; the evidence is Russian-language, smaller-sample research.

Sources

Cerebrolysin

Clinical evidence

A large meta-analysis (14 RCTs, ~2,900 patients) shows real stroke-recovery benefit, while a major 2012 trial found the benefit unclear in stroke generally. The evidence is genuinely mixed.

A meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials (2,884 patients) found significantly improved neurological recovery after acute ischemic stroke vs. placebo, and upper-limb motor recovery improved within 3 weeks (sustained at 90 days). A large 2012 trial cast doubt on its usefulness in stroke generally, except perhaps in severe cases, and functional-independence outcomes showed only a non-significant trend favoring it. Separately, a schizophrenia-patient trial found improved cognition/memory, and an older-adult memory-loss trial found improved memory alongside unchanged verbal fluency. Whether it prevents dementia or slows general cognitive decline remains an open question.

Sources

This is a summary of published and preclinical research, not medical advice. Every entry describes what a study found, not what you should do. These compounds are supplied for laboratory research only.

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