Ginseng has been found to be useful in treating and prevention of a number of neurological disorders. For example, the ginsenosides found in high concentrations in American and Korean red ginseng reduced brain damage due to stroke in experimental animals.

Impressive protection was also demonstrated using American ginseng. The protection was a result of ginseng-modulating glutamate receptors, protecting mitochondria, increasing GABA (a neurotransmitter that calms the brain), reducing endoplasmic reticulum stress, relaxing cerebral blood vessels (improving blood flow in the brain), and triggering many cell-protective mechanisms.

Using an animal model of rats that spontaneously develop extremely high blood pressure and high incidence of strokes, researchers found that an American ginseng component (Rb1) prevented a great deal of stroke damage.

The ginseng extract also stimulated neural stem cells that are essential for repairing stroke brain damage. In another study, Korean red ginseng protected the brain in animal models of stroke and reduced the amount of brain damage and the neurological impairment in the animals.

In humans, this could mean the difference between severe neurological impairment and a functional life. In part, the protection occurred by reducing stroke-induced inflammation caused by activated microglia in the area of the stroke.

Ginseng extract calms microglia and thus reduces immunoexcitotoxicity, one of the major mechanisms for stroke damage to the brain.

One particularly impressive study found that even when it is given 3 to 4 hours after the stroke occurred, Panax notoginseng significantly reduced the amount of damage, reduced brain swelling, and improved the neurological functioning of the experimental animal.

Another study found that administering ginseng by nasal spray significantly protected the brain during a stroke.