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Objectives The combination extract of four kinds of herbs, Gastrodia elata, Liriope platyphylla, Dimocarpus longan, and Salvia miltiorrhiza, has shown to have memory improving effects in mice. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the herbal mixture for improving working memory as well as microstructural changes in white matter integrity in individuals with subjective memory complaints. Methods Seventy-five individuals with subjective memory complaints were assigned to receive either placebo (n = 15) or herbal mixture (low-dose group, n = 30 and high-dose group, n = 30) supplementation in an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled clinical trial. Changes in working memory performance and fractional anisotropy (FA) values reflecting white matter integrity from baseline to 8-week endpoint were assessed. Results The herbal mixture group showed an increase in working memory performance compared to the placebo group (p for interaction = 0.001). In addition, the herbal mixture group showed an increase in FA values in the temporo-parietal regions (corrected p < 0.05), which are crucially involved in working memory function and are among the most affected regions in patients with cognitive impairments. Conclusions Findings from this study indicate that the herbal mixture may be a promising therapeutic option for individuals with subjective memory complaints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Although there have been studies that examine sex differences of the brain structures using magnetic resonance imaging, studies that specifically investigate cerebellar structural differences between men and women are scarce. The purpose of current study was to examine sex differences in structures of the cerebellum using cerebellar template and cerebellum analysis methods. Methods Sixteen men and twenty women were included in the study. A MATLAB based program (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA), Statistical Parametric Mapping 5 (SPM5) using the spatially unbiased infra-tentorial atlas template (SUIT) as the cerebellum template, was used to analyze the brain imaging data. Results There was no significant difference in age between men (mean age = 28.1) and women (mean age = 27.2). Men showed higher gray matter density than women in two left cerebellar areas including the clusters in the lobules IV and V (a cluster located across the lobules IV and V), and the lobule VIIIb (lobules IV and V, t = 4.75, p < 0.001 ; lobule VIIIb, t = 3.08, p = 0.004). Conclusions The current study found differences in cerebellar gray matter density between men and women. The current study holds its significance for applying the template specifically developed for the analysis of cerebellum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]