ABSTRACT
It has been reported that brain factor-7 (BF-7) extracted from Bombyx mori improves cognitive functions in normal juveniles and adults as well as cognitively impaired patients. Clinical studies with normal children evaluated the role of BF-7 on brain function in these patients. The objective of this study was to improve cognitive functions of normal schoolchildren with BF-7. Forty-six normal healthy children were divided into two treatment groups: BF-7 (9.9 +/- 1.18 years old; 9 boys, 14 girls) and placebo (9.8 +/- 1.03 years old; 10 boys, 13 girls). The Color Trails Making Test was used to measure the efficacy of BF-7 on cognition and attention. Results showed that BF-7 reduced the response time by an average of 23% for the Color Trails Making Test. Moreover, BF-7 improved the accuracy of the task around twofold. The results reveal that BF-7 improves brain function for attention and cognitive flexibility in children.