Abstract

Salvia administration has been shown to improve cognitive function in both healthy young and older participants (Tildesley et al., 2003, 2005; Scholey et al., 2008). In a placebo-controlled double-blind within-participants design, the present study examined the effects of Salvia Lavandulaefolia (100mg) on an attention control task (the Posner cueing task) and subjective mood. In addition, the experiment manipulated whether participants expected to receive S. Lavandulaefolia or not. S. Lavandulaefolia was found to significantly improve accuracy (although not reaction times) on the Posner task. The effect of expectancy was opposite to that predicted, in that reaction times were significantly improved if participants received S. Lavandulaefolia but did not expect the drug. This effect might be explained in terms of the general relaxing properties ascribed to herbal supplements, i.e. pharmacological effects are attenuated by expectancy of relaxation. No effects of S. Lavandulaefolia or expectancy were found on the subjective measures.