Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part H (2025)

Herbal medicine has been considered a promising pathway for the treatment of various neurological and psychological diseases. The broad range of use of herbal medicine is rooted in traditional ethnomedicinal knowledge, which is being reinforced by extensive modern pharmacological research. The phytotherapeutic efficacy of many important medicinal plants, such as Withania somnifera, Bacopa monnieri, Rhodiola rosea, Ginkgo biloba, and Valeriana officinalis, is associated with improved mental health and psychological well-being. These phytoproducts can modulate the neurotransmitter systems through serotonergic, dopaminergic, and GABAergic mechanisms, improve anti-inflammatory and antioxidative responses in the central nervous system (CNS), and can regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, neurogenesis, and epigenetic changes.
Moreover, recent works revealed the involvement of microbiome-friendly herbs in regulating the gut-brain axis. Despite favourable safety profiles and clinical significance, more research is needed to standardize optimal dosing and drug-herb interactions. Herbal neurotherapeutics are nowadays evolving with a steady shape through the recent investigations in phytochemical characterization, targeted delivery technologies, and personalized medicine applications. These consolidated methodologies made the herbal medicine more suitable to improve mental health and strengthen neurocognitive resistance.