Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Background and Objectives: Curcumin belongs to ginger family, which is used as food and drug from ancient times. Different studies have shown beneficial effects of curcumin on peptic ulcer, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and various types of cancer. In this study, the effect of different doses of Curcuma longa aqueous extract on memory retention and retrieval of mice, was investigated using passive avoidance apparatus.

Methods: Mice were divided into 6 groups of 8 each for memory retention test and 6 groups of 8 each for memory retrieval test {experimental groups receiving the extract intraperitoneally at doses of 100, 200, 400, 800mg/kg, blank group, and control group}. In memory retention test, the curcumin extract was administered immediately after electric shock, while in the memory retrieval test, it was administered 24 h after receiving electric shock. To compare the complete stepping in the experiment days, One-way ANOVA and post-test LSD were used. The level of significance was considered p<0.05.

Results: In this study, curcuma longa aqueous extract significantly increased memory retention and retrieval on the 4^th day compared to blank and control groups. The best response for memory retention was obtained at the dose of 100mg/kg and for memory retrieval at the dose of 200mg/kg.

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it seems that Curcuma longa aqueous extract improves memory retention and retrieval in healthy mice.