Neurobehavioral Effects of Phoenix dactylifera in Mice

Abstract

The present study deals with the investigation of the neurobehavioral effects of the methanolic extract of Phoenix dactylifera (PD) fruits, studied on locomotor activity, exploratory behavior, motor coordination, hot-plate test, haloperidol-induced catalepsy, sodium nitrite–induced respiratory arrest, maximum electroshock–induced convulsions using mice. The results revealed that the extract in mice considerably reduced the exploration time in closed arms with an increased exploration in open arms, increased the time spent in mirrored chamber, increased the discrimination index, potentiated the haloperidol-induced catalepsy, reduced the onset of death in sodium nitrite–induced respiratory arrest. These results suggest that the methanolic extract of P. dactylifera fruits possess a wide range of CNS activities, which need further investigation.

Keywords: Anxiety; convulsions; locomotor activity; nootropic; Phoenix dactylifera