Flavonoids and Mental Health Single-dose flavonoid interventions have produced improvements in attention, inhibition, visuospatial memory, and executive function between 2–6 h post-consumption, whilst supplementation of flavonoids for 1.5–8 weeks has been associated with improved visuospatial memory and improved long-term memory. 1 Flavonoids as therapeutics - Example: Baicalin 2 S. baicalensis and it's primary active constituent baicalin has diverse pharmacological properties. In particular, baicalin seems to have promising CNS activity [1]. Antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like properties (the latter mediated through the activation of benzodiazepine binding site of GABAA receptors) Inhibits prolyl oligopeptidase dose-dependently, having potential benefits for schizophrenia,bipolar affective disorder, and related neuropsychiatric diseases [2]. Can potentially be used to treat dopaminergic dysfunction-associated CNS diseases (incl. neurodegenerative and ADHD). It's able to protect dopaminergic neurons and modulate brain dopamine levels, thus serving as a potentially effective novel treatment for ADHD [3]. In schizophrenia, addition of baicalin (1.5g/day) to atypical antipsychotics led to greater improvements in both primary and secondary negative symptoms than those treated with antipsychotics alone - seems to have efficacy for predominant negative symptoms and in improving cognitive function [4]. Able to facilitate remyelination in various models of CNS disorders and suppress neuroinflammation [5] Biacalin can: - pass through the blood–brain barrier - stimulate neurogenesis - promote neural differentiation and inhibit neuronal apoptosis - inhibit neuroinflammation and oxidative stress - promote CNS myelin repair 3 Shown to be relatively nontoxic when given orally [1] https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/8/6/104 [2] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2008.04.067 [3] https://molecularbrain.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13041-019-0428-5 [4] https://www.academia.edu/97015688/Efficacy_and_safety_of_the_adjunctive_Baicalin_in_ schizophrenia_patients_with_negative_symptoms_and_cognitive_impairment_a_randomiz ed_pilot_study?auto=download [5] https://nn.neurology.org/content/9/2/e1142.abstract 4