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Open WellbeingWhat the studies actually measured

Mood, stress and thinking

Ginkgo bilobaand Cognitive performance

Only one source here so far, and it measured higher cognitive performance.

How sure anyone can be

Moderate certainty, level 3 of 4

Further research may change this.

The most certain of the two findings here; each record carries its own.

The numbers reported

One source’s range, drawn against its own line of no difference and scaled to its own numbers.

-0.67-0.070.51

This range crosses the no-difference line, so these numbers fit a real difference and no difference at all equally well.

Bar the confidence interval — the range the true effect is likely to sit inNotch the number the source reportedLine where there would be no difference at all

One source, newest first

Two entries follow: one source was read here more than once, and each reading has its own entry.

What we read is the published abstract, not the full paper, so a blank below may still be printed in the paper itself. A fixed rule worked this out from the source’s own fields. Nobody checked this rating by hand.

  • Systematic review, 2026 · 2 studies pooled · 508 participants

    Moderate certainty, level 3 of 4

    Ginkgo biloba for cognitive impairment and dementia.

    Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2026;2(2):CD013661. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013661.pub2. PMID:41641880.

    This source later carried a notice: Update of doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013661. The number below is exactly as the source gave it.

    Number reported
    -0.07
    Which way it went
    No clear difference
    Likely range
    -0.67 to 0.51
    Source’s own words
    ADAS-Cog score mean difference vs placebo at six months (not significant)
    Who was studied
    Adult with mild cognitive impairment
    Compared with
    placebo
    Amount taken
    Not in the abstract
    For how long
    180 days
    Disagreement between studies
    I² = 0%
    Kind of record
    Journal article
    How this rating was reachedstarts at High, one step down: imprecision
    1. Starts at High
    2. Imprecision brought it down to Moderatethe confidence interval includes no effectReported in the abstract
    3. Ends at ModerateOne step down.
    Checked, nothing to step it down for
    risk of bias and indirectness
    Inconsistency
    No high disagreement reported between the 2 studies it pooled

    Imprecision stops at the first check that applies; others may apply too.

    AI review could not confirm it — an AI agent re-read this finding against the saved source and at least one check failed. The batch record names the check and quotes the sentence that caused the doubt. No person read it.

    Read the abstract on PubMed

  • Systematic review, 2026 · 9 studies pooled · 2,801 participants

    Low certainty, level 2 of 4

    Ginkgo biloba for cognitive impairment and dementia.

    Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2026;2(2):CD013661. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013661.pub2. PMID:41641880.

    This source later carried a notice: Update of doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013661. The number below is exactly as the source gave it.

    Number reported
    -1.86
    Which way it went
    Higher
    Likely range
    -3.48 to -0.24
    Source’s own words
    Syndrom-Kurztest total score mean difference vs placebo at six months
    Who was studied
    Adult with dementia
    Compared with
    placebo
    Amount taken
    Not in the abstract
    For how long
    180 days
    Disagreement between studies
    I² = 96%
    Kind of record
    Journal article
    How this rating was reachedstarts at High, 2 steps down: imprecision and inconsistency
    1. Starts at High
    2. Imprecision brought it down to Moderatethe interval excludes no effect but spans a 14-fold range of effect size, from trivial to largeReported in the abstract
    3. Inconsistency brought it down to Lowheterogeneity across pooled studies is high (I² = 96%)Reported in the abstract
    4. Ends at Low2 steps down.
    Checked, nothing to step it down for
    risk of bias and indirectness

    Imprecision stops at the first check that applies; others may apply too.

    AI review could not confirm it — an AI agent re-read this finding against the saved source and at least one check failed. The batch record names the check and quotes the sentence that caused the doubt. No person read it.

    Read the abstract on PubMed

What is still missing from these readings

  • Amount taken — Not in the abstract.

Something nobody wrote down is never a zero and never a guess.

Still to read for Ginkgo biloba

Two of the ten things on our list for Ginkgo biloba have no reading here yet:

  • Fasting insulin
  • Mood

Still to read means nobody here has got to it, not that it was tried and did nothing or that no research exists. A pairing on no list is not a gap: we never set out to read it.

Read next

This is a library, not advice. No recommendation, no dose, no diagnosis, no ranking. We never ask about your symptoms, and nothing here is tailored to you.