Alright - I've been doing some research on celastrus paniculatus (Intellect Tree), which may have just become a new favorite herb of mine. In ayurvedic medicine, the oil of the seed is used - by students for concentration and enhanced memory, in older folk for memory loss, for marijuana smokers, also memory loss. The seeds contain fatty acids, the whole plant has been reported to contain yellow waxy oil, steroids/terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins upon preliminary phytochemical screening. Leaves contain stilbenes (piceid, reveratrol, viniferin, ampelopsin). Stem, leaves, roots are reported to possess hydrocyanic acid, delphinidin and several flavonoids such as cyanidin is reported in the leaves. This plant also contains kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, triterpenes and epifriedelanol. Constituents Celastrine, paniculatin among other active alkaloids are what is most studied. It also a profound dream enhancer, as I've be finding, if taken about an hour before bed.
In experimental studies the effect of Celastrus oil, on learning and memory in a two-compartment passive avoidance task was studied in rats. The effects on the contents of norephinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA) and serotonin(5-HT) in the brain and on the levels of their metabolites both in the brain and urine were also assessed.
Significant improvement was observed in the retention ability of the drug-treated rats compared with the saline administered controls. The contents of NE, DA and 5-HT and their metabolites in the brain were significantly decreased in the drug treated group. These studies clearly indicate that Celastrus oil causes an overall decrease in the turnover of key chemicals that directly affect learning and memory.
There is ongoing research into the possibility that anticancer drugs like pristimerin, which is derived from the seeds of the Celastrus plant, may be an effect means of treating certain types of cancers, or to inhibit the growth of specific types of cancer cells. Research conducted by H. Yang et.al. has shown pristimerin to be quite active against nine cancer cell lines. Although much more research still needs to be done, the potential health benefits of Celastrus seed oil looks very promising.
Nalini, K; Karanth, K.S; Rao, A; Aroor, A.R. (1995). Effects of Celastrus paniculatus on passive avoidance performance and biogenic amine turnover in albino rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 101-8.
Russo, A; Izzo, A.A; Cardile, V; Borrelli, F; Vanella, A. (2001). Indian medicinal plants as antiradicals and DNA cleavage protectors. Phytomedicine. 125-32.
Zhixiang, Z; Funston A. (200
. CELASTRUS Linnaeus. China 11: 466–474.
What really intrigued me about celastrus is that it increases levels of ACETYLCHOLINE in the brain. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter crucial in forming and recalling memories, and many herbal memory enhancers, such as brahmi and celastrus seed, may work in part by prolonging the presence of acetylcholine in the brain. Many physicians have suggested that acetylcholine-boosting medications may also be effective in treating mild cognitive impairment (MCI) a less serious form of age-related memory degeneration.
It gets better.
The classic fast excitatory neurotransmitter of the peripheral nervous system, acetylcholine (ACh), is found in a mirror symmetric pair of amacrine cells in the vertebrate retina. In the rabbit such cells have been named starburst cell (Famiglieti, 1983; Masland and Tauchi, 1986). One of the mirror pair occurs in the amacrine cell layer with dendrites in sublamina a (OFF sublamina of the IPL). The other of the pair has its cell body displaced to the ganglion cell layer and its dendrites stratify in sublamina b (ON sublamina of the IPL).
These ACh containing amacrine cells are common to almost all vertebrate retinas and have been described morphologically in human retina too (Hutchins and Hollyfield, 1987; Kolb et al., 1992) (see previous chapter on amacrine cells). ACh starburst amacrine cells co-localize GABA (Vaney and Young, 198
. Both muscarinic and nicotinic receptors have been demonstrated in the mammalian retina, particularly associated with transient phasic ganglion cells (Y cells) (Keyser et al., 1989; Hughes, 1991) and directionally selective ganglion cells (Grzywacz et al., 1998; Strang et al., 2007). Apparently starburst amacrine cells are excitatory with ACh release early in development of the retina and this release is necessary for development of retinal waves. Later in development the starburst cells use inhibitory GABA release to influence directional selectivity in the DS ganglion cells (Zheng et al., 2004; Masland, 2005).
http://webvision.med.uta...smitters-in-the-retina/
Interesting - Acetylcholine acts on two vastly different classes of receptors - nicotinic receptors(tobacco) (with two subtypes, one at the neuromuscular junction of skeletal muscle, the other within ganglia and the CNS), and muscarinic receptors(muscarine from "poisonous mushrooms"
(widely distributed within both peripheral and central nervous systems). Muscarinic receptors originally were distinguished from nicotinic receptors by the selectivity of the agonists muscarine and nicotine respectively. Check out the similarities in structure for all three of these compounds.
Wikipedia can sometimes to helpful -
One well-supported function of acetylcholine (ACh) in cortex is increased responsiveness to sensory stimuli, a form of attention. Phasic increases of ACh during visual,[16] auditory [17] and somatosensory [18] stimulus presentations have been found to increase the firing rate of neurons in the corresponding primary sensory cortices. When cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain are lesioned, animals' ability to detect visual signals was robustly and persistently impaired.[19] In that same study, animals' ability to correctly reject non-target trials was not impaired, further supporting the interpretation that phasic ACh facilitates responsiveness to stimuli. Looking at ACh's effect on thalamocortical connections, a known pathway of sensory information, in vitro application of cholinergic agonist carbachol to mouse auditory cortex enhanced thalamocortical activity.[20] In addition, Gil et al. (1997) applied a different cholinergic agonist, nicotine, and found that activity was enhanced at thalamocortical synapses.[21] This finding provides further evidence for a facilitative role of ACh in transmission of sensory information from the thalamus to selective regions of cortex.
Also - Have you heard of piracetum? According to the producers - Piracetam improves the functioning of the (ACh) transmitters and receptors. Acetylcholine, abbreviated as (ACh), is implicated in memory processes and development. Choline sources, like Alpha GPC and choline bitartrate, increase the production of Acetylcholine. Piracetam as a synergistic supplement stimulates, increases, and improves the functions these ACh receptors. Not only is ACh implicated in memory processes, the chemical compound is a neurotransmitter in both the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS) in many organisms including humans.
Read more
http://smartdrugsforthought.com/what-is-piracetam
With my preliminary research, my hypothesis is that this is also part of how the Celastrus functions as a nootropic, in the Ach realm at least
That's all the time I have now, and I have to do more research, but preliminary self-study seem to express a much higher threshold of attention and concentration. I have also been finding my vision to be sharper and sometimes even "glowy".
P.s. I am 120 lbs, and have taken between 7 and 30 seeds. 15 to 30 do the trick. Even my verbal communication has increased exponentially. If only I had a brain scanner and could do experiments on the neurochemistry myself.