Ginsenosides in Panax ginseng Extract Promote Anagen Transition by Suppressing BMP4 Expression and Promote Human Hair Growth by Stimulating Follicle-Cell Proliferation.

Studies showing that Panax ginseng promotes hair growth have largely been conducted using mice; there are few reports on how P. ginseng affects human hair growth. In particular, little is known about its effect on the telogen to anagen transition. To determine the effect of P. ginseng on human hair growth and the transition from the telogen to the anagen phase. The effects of P. ginseng extract (PGE) and the three major ginsenoside components, Rb1, Rg1, and Re, on the proliferation of human dermal papilla cells (DPCs) and human outer root sheath cells (ORSCs) were investigated. The effects of these compounds on the cell expression of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), fibroblast growth factor 18 (FGF18) and Noggin were assessed by real-time PCR. The effect of PGE on hair-shaft elongation was determined in a human hair follicle organ-culture system. PGE and the three ginsenosides stimulated the proliferation of DPCs and ORSCs and suppressed BMP4 expression in DPCs but did not affect FGF18 expression in ORSCs and Noggin expression in DPCs. PGE stimulated hair-shaft growth. PGE and the ginsenosides Rb1, Rg1, and Re stimulate the transition from the telogen phase to anagen phase of the hair cycle by suppressing BMP4 expression in DPCs. These compounds might be useful for promoting the growth of human hair.

Accelerated recognition of left oblique views of faces.

Because faces in portraits are depicted more frequently in a left rather than a right oblique (half-profile or 3/4) view, we addressed the question of whether people find it easier to recognize the left or right 3/4 view of a familiar person's face. We examined the ability of 13 subjects to match familiar faces that were presented in either the left or right 3/4 view, with names that were presented either before or after the faces (face-name and name-face matching tasks, respectively). In both tasks, the subjects responded more rapidly to a left than to a right 3/4 view of the same face. This suggests that during face recognition the processing of information from faces that are presented in the left 3/4 view is dominant over the processing of right 3/4 views of familiar faces.