Latest revision as of 18:41, 7 November 2025

Abstract

In this experiment, the ability of sage, Salvia miltiorrhiza on memory retention and the organism population was assessed. Sage shows effects by aromatherapy, with active chemical properties to improve cognitive and neurological performance. This experiment used planarians as a neurological template to show the effects of the properties of sage. The planarians were separated into groups A, B, C, D, and E, each with ten individuals. Group A was the control, B was 0.001g/mL, C was 0.002g/mL, D was 0.003g/mL, and E was 0.004g/mL. It was predicted that the higher the concentration, the better the memory retention performance. This experiment compared the after-treatment results of the memory retention examination and to the before-treatment values through Excel, ANOVA with Tukey HSD, and t-tests. Results from trial 1 demonstrated that the sage solution improved the planarians' ability to retain information. Groups B and C performed better when compared to control group A and pre-treatment values. In trial 2, almost all the experimental groups outperformed the control group equally. After trial 3, group E showed the most significant results after treatment. In conclusion, sage was able to improve the memory retention of the planarians. Group A has the least change in memory retention; groups C and D showed effect after two days from treatment; groups B and E showed the most immediate effect. However, future research should be conducted to address more specific patterns between sage solution concentrations and memory retention of the planarians.

Introduction

Rationale

Sage is widely known for its applications in culinary, fragrance, cosmetics, and medicinal industries. It is recognized to have properties that strengthen immunity and reduce inflammation for many disorders. Testing sage on the memory of Dugesia dorotocephala can provide aid to humans to attain and remember specific information more efficiently. Though research was conducted, it is not known across the media. This study will solidify the affirmations and benefits of sage on animal models and human brains. Memory may be improved using sage aromatherapy and establishing a more accessible alternative to memory repair.

Sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza)

Several Salvia species have a wide range of active chemicals that may improve cognitive function and offer protection from neurodegenerative diseases, according to in vitro and animal studies. Salvia plants have historically been used to treat a variety of illnesses, and according to traditional wisdom, they may also be beneficial for neurological and cognitive disorders (Lopresti, 2017). Research shows that a variety of Salvia species, and each of their active components, affect several biological functions that may have an impact on neurological and cognitive performance. Studies conducted in vitro, on animals, and in humans in the early stages have all supported the claim that salvia plants improve cognitive function and protect against neurodegenerative diseases. Nonetheless, additional study is needed in several areas.

Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM) is used to treat several conditions, such as cancer, bone loss, hepatocirrhosis, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and renal insufficiency. The prevention and treatment of the said diseases derive from the active chemical components in Salvia miltiorrhiza. From sage, 49 diterpenoid quinones, 36 hydrophilic phenolic acids, and 23 components of essential oils were extracted and characterized, collectively representing a broad range of secondary metabolite groups. The main bioactive components of SM, according to chemical and pharmaceutical studies, are hydrophilic phenolic acids and diterpenoid quinones (Chun-Yan et al., 2015). Two series of phenanthrofuran-10, 11-dione, and phenanthrofuran-7, 11-dione diterpenoid quinones were identified. As condensation derivatives of caffeic acid with various linkage types and numbers, hydrophilic phenolic acids are thought of. While most of the essential oils are derived from flowers, these two types of active chemicals are typically isolated from roots. Therefore, Salvia miltiorrhiza can have astounding effects on multiple cognitive and neurological conditions (Chun-Yan et al., 2015).

Planaria

Dugesia dorotocephala, commonly known as brown planaria, was the organism investigated in this study. It is a planaria species that is a commonly used model for the research of developmental biology that displays behavior for data collection for pharmaceutical benefits. Planaria are acoelomates meaning they can live on land and in water while lacking a body cavity. Planarians feed on a variety of foods, such as fresh beef liver, hard-boiled egg yolk, pieces of earthworm, crushed aquarium snails, or Lumbriculus, a type of worm (Carolina, 2023). The planarians thrive with the aid of Poland spring water because tap water can contain metal ions that may be detrimental to planarians.

All vertebrates and many invertebrates share a body plan, and planarians are the simplest animals to display it. They have bilateral rather than radial symmetry, dorsal and ventral surfaces, and a rostrocaudal axis with a head and a tail, as well as specialized sense organs and a collection of nerve cells in the head. Planarian neurons exhibit characteristics of vertebrate neurons, such as a multipolar shape, dendritic spines with synaptic boutons, a single axon, expression of vertebrate-like neural proteins, and relatively low spontaneously generated electrical activity. These characteristics set planarian neurons apart from advanced invertebrate neurons (Buttarelli et al., 2008).

Short-term Memory vs. Long-term Memory

Short-term memory is defined as systems that provide retention of limited resources for a limited period (Vallar, 2017). On the other hand, long-term memory is a system that provides the retention of unlimited information for an indefinite period. In biological systems, memory is a crucial component of learning and decision-making. While long-term memory requires the expression of extra genes during learning, short-term memory includes the covalent alteration of pre-existing proteins. After repetition, significance is transformed from short-term memory to long-term memory (Chang et al., 2011). This finding enables a molecular analysis of the induction and preservation of long-term memory (Goelet et al., 1986). The assumption that short- and long-term memory are functionally and neurobiologically distinct would be contraindicated if short-term memory were to be compared to long-term memory, which is a typical comparison. Short-term memory must accommodate the storage of many tokens of the same kind, the binding of variables, and the memory for previously unknown information (Norris et al., 2017).

Brain Regeneration of Planarian

While there is no direct evidence that sage can assist in the regeneration of the hippocampus in planaria, the herb's memory-enhancing properties could indirectly assist in the retention of memories by the planarian. Planarians can retain memories even after their heads were sliced off, it is plausible that incorporating sage into their environment could potentially aid in this process. However, further research is needed to determine the exact mechanisms by which sage could assist in the retention of memories in planaria.

Therefore, planarians were used for this experiment to assess the memory of the planarians after head regeneration. Planaria is known for its ability to regenerate the entire body, therefore including the regeneration of the hippocampus and memory. The planarian system may provide an opportunity to examine brain regeneration and memory in the same animal. Planarians have environmental memory that lasts for at least 14 days, which is sufficient time for the brain to rebuild. This is a demonstration of long-term memory (Shomrat et al., 2013).

After growing a new head, beheaded planaria show signs of memory retrieval in a savings paradigm. Shomrat et al. (2013), suggested planaria as a crucial new model species for mechanistic studies of the biological tissues' recording of particular memories. Also, this technique is probably going to have a big impact on adult human stem cell treatments for degenerative brain illnesses. Moreover, their memory endures until complete regeneration following amputation, meaning that they adhere to the memory before and after amputation/regeneration. The use of planaria as a model organism for current learning and memory research has a lot of potential because of this straightforward and promising method. Significantly, planarians are the only organisms with a molecularly traceable mechanism that allows for the simultaneous study of memory and brain regeneration (Shomrat et al., 2013). This is a key benefit since it enables the investigation of novel hypotheses about the function of self-organization and epigenetic pathways in memory encoding and brain development and regeneration.

T-Maze Development

Figure 1: T-Maze construction by (Rice Jr et al., 1957)

Rice Jr et al., 1957, were able to use T-Maze to analyze the behavior of reactive inhibition. Lepley and Rice extended this concept of reactive inhibition to account for the variability of maze behavior in the paramecium. They stated that when any reaction occurs, the probability of its later occurrence is reduced. This current experiment presented in this article adapted this maze for memory testing as demonstrated effectively by Rice Jr. and colleagues. There is currently just one section of the multibranched maze, since including the whole maze may seem complicated in the situation of this experiment. The T-Maze also allows the planarians to rely more on memory retention rather than sight, therefore ensuring the accuracy of the experiment.

Other Studies

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and sage (Salvia officinalis L.) are similar in both antimicrobial and antioxidant properties (Bozin et al., 2007). For instance, both rosemary and sage derive from the family Lamiaceae. Both rosemary and sage also demonstrated stimulatory effects and affected brain wave activity, autonomic nervous system activity, and mood states (Bozin et al., 2007). A study by Filiptsova et al. (2018), tested the use of rosemary oil on the short-term memory of humans. Before and after the treatment, subjects had electroencephalograms, which are similar to MRI scans of brain activity. The results showed that following aromatherapy, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate all significantly increased. The volunteers reported feeling more rested. The stimulating effects of rosemary essential oil on brain wave activity were also revealed by an analysis of EEG. However, sage is different from rosemary, such that rosemary is more widely known and applied than sage. Rosemary and Sage also possess different structural components that contribute to cognitive growth. For example, rosemary possess diterpenes, which are derived from the terpenoids or mevalonate pathway and hence composed of repeating 5-carbon backbone skeleton, isoprene units (Habtemariam, 2016), while sage contains 1,8-cineole, camphor, α-thujone, β-thujone, borneol, and viridiflorol (Hamidpour et al., 2014). Although they possess different structures, they both demonstrate similar effects on cognitive growth, sharing a major constituent carnosic acid.

Another study by Tildesley et al. (2003), also shows the effect of the Spanish sage on the memory of participating healthy young adults. The current study's findings suggest that healthy young adults who consume single doses of S. lavandulaefolia (sage) may have a dose-dependent improvement in memory. The impact on instantaneous word recall was the most notable. This shows that sage ingestion allowed the quickest memory retention within word recall. As acetylcholine is essential for cognitive processes like learning and memory, the memory improvement seen in these findings is a result of Salvia's anticholinesterase properties. However, given Salvia's rich pharmacology, which includes many other potential beneficial mechanisms, more mechanistic studies are required. These findings provide the first comprehensive proof that salvia can modify cognition acutely in healthy young adults. Therefore, sage can provide novel bioengineering in improving memory retention, and continuous research on other varying sage species should be explored to expand the horizon of sage medicine in cognitive growth.

In this experiment, the use of sage solution on the memory retention of neurologically structured organisms such as humans and planarians were assessed. Due to the limited number of scientific studies on the direct impact of sage on memory retention, this experiment highlights novelty and seeks more originality than others. Additionally, this experiment suggests the inclusion of more species of sage to test its whole effect on the cognitive development of neurological organisms.

Materials and Methods

Maintaining Planaria

The planaria underwent habitual adaptation for about a week straight to recover from delivery difficulties and strains. Before and after operations, the countertops were bleached, hands should be washed, and gloves, goggles, and aprons should be worn. Poland Spring water was used to fill two Petri dishes with 30mL each, and then one cubic centimeter of chopped beef was added to each Petri dish. The planarians were separated into each Petri dish evenly. The feeding time was around 30 minutes and then the planarians were retransferred to new separate Petri dishes with 30mL Poland Spring water. The old Petri dishes were disposed of to prevent infections and unwanted bacterial growth.

Preparation of Solution

The countertops were bleached with 10% vol bleach before and after the operation. To prepare the Sage solution, 0.3g of sage powder was added and then mixed with 300 mL of Poland Spring water. After diffusing the powder solute to the water solvent, transfer the mixture to an Erlenmeyer flask and label it with masking tape as group B. For the following groups, groups C, D, and E, use 0.6g, 0.9g, and 1.2g of sage powder and 300 of Spring water each, respectively. This is also shown in Table 1. After preparing all required solutions for all groups, the flasks were sealed with plastic wrap or parafilm.

Table 1. Experimental Setup

Treating Planarian with Sage Extract

Before completing this section, the preparation of the solution was made first. This way, there was time for efficient and simple treatment administration. After a week of adapting to the synthetic habitat, the planarians were treated with the specific sage solution of each group for 30 minutes each on Monday according to Table 1. The countertops were bleached, and gloves, goggles, and aprons were worn beforehand. Then, 30mL of each solution was transferred to separate Petri dishes, with each Petri dish labeled with its assigned group letter. Afterward, the planarians were carefully transferred using a pipette. Concluding treatment, the planarians were carried from each group into Poland Spring water individually, with the Petri dishes labeled. The water was not changed for a day and was stored at room temperature.

T-maze Test

The countertops were bleached beforehand, and gloves, goggles, and aprons were worn. To create the T-Maze, one piece of 3 x 0.5 in², two pieces of 1.75 x 0.5 in², and two pieces of 1.25 x 0.5in² of non-clear High-Density Polyethylene were obtained. Then using the water-resistant glue, the 3 x 0.5in² for the top of the T on the Petri dish were glued together, and then one of the 1.25 x 0.5in² pieces was glued below it on either side of the Petri dish, leaving a space in the middle. Lastly, one of the 1.75 x 0.5in² pieces was glued perpendicular to the 1.25 x 0.5in², and this was repeated for the other side. This process was repeated three times to make enough T-Mazes for use (Figure 2). The structure of the T-Maze was based on the study by Rice Jr. and colleagues, where a multibranched maze was utilized. However, only one branch was selected to use as a reference in creating the maze applicable to this experiment.

Figure 2: T-Maze scale print, by Vicky Lin

This process of procedure was performed a week after treating the planarians with the sage solution. For conducting the before values of memory retention, treatment was not administered for the planarians yet. The countertops were bleached before and after the procedure and gloves, goggles, and apron should be worn. The T-Maze was prepared by rinsing it thoroughly with water. Then, one vertical centimeter of Poland Spring Water was filled into the maze. Then one cubic centimeter of raw minced beef was placed on one end of the T-Maze. This was used as the role of reward to motivate the planarians to finish the maze and receive a reward.

The countertops were bleached before and after the procedure and gloves, goggles, and apron were worn. If needed, additional sage solutions were synthesized for the treatment medium. After exposure to the treatment, a pipette was used to transfer the planarians into the stem of the T-Maze. Data was collected on the turn the planarian takes, and the time used for the planarians to complete the maze from the second it was placed into the maze. After collecting the data, the planarians were replaced into their Petri dishes with Poland Spring water. This was conducted separately for each group.

Experimental Trials

The planarians were assessed on their ability to improve memory with the guidance of sage aromatherapy and solution. The T-Maze assessment was performed 24 hours after treatment for Day 2, 48 hours from treatment for Day 3, 72 hours from treatment for Day 4, and then 96 hours from treatment for Day 5. For the original experimental trial and Days 2, 3, and 4, a food reward was placed at one end of the maze for all days. Then on Day 5, the planarians were required to complete the maze without any outside stimuli; this consolidated the memory benefit of the sage solution on neurological functions.

Population count

The planarians were counted for population changes after the application of the treatment sage solution. Throughout the trials, the overall condition of the population was recorded. Analysis of the overall change in population allows for the overall assessment of the additional treatment of the sage solution for the planarians. Ergo, if the population shows a positive trend, then the administration of sage was able to have beneficial effects on all aspects of the neurological model. If there is a negative trend, then it can indicate that the treatment size may be out of range and further research should be conducted to understand the effect of the treatment size on the overall health.

Data Analysis

For one, the planarians were recorded and their time to complete the maze was collected. They were recorded the second they were placed in the maze, and the video was analyzed afterward for explicit timing for graphical and data analysis. The time for each individual was collected and then averaged to form the distinct group time. All values were stored on MS Excel spreadsheets. The mean values were calculated by the standard function of Excel. This was demonstrated in a bar graph, with the x-axis representing the groups and the y-axis representing the time. ANOVA tests were used to compare the results between the groups and their time. ANOVA followed up by Tukey HSD was conducted to determine the significant difference using www.astatsa.com. This was done before the treatment and with the food reward to understand the memory of the planarians before treatment with an outside stimulus. Then, after treatment, this process was repeated and analyzed for resulting values. Using a paired t-test, the comparison between the before and after values of the groups was assessed to understand the improvement in the memory of the planarians. The t-test was organized by placing before and after treatment values of each group with each other to more directly analyze the memory improvement based on each concentration of sage.

The before-and-after treatments were also plotted on a bar graph, although no ANOVA was conducted for before values since there would be no factor that would change the significance between the groups. The paired t-test was conducted to determine the significant difference between the memory values but at different times: before and after treatment. The mean values for each group were calculated by the standard function of Excel. All values for before and after values were stored on MS Excel spreadsheets. ANOVA was used for after-treatment values because significance between the groups was demonstrated in the difference in sage concentrations they were administered. ANOVA followed up by Tukey HSD was conducted to determine the significant difference using www.astatsa.com. This would support the favorable range of sage concentration in benefitting the memory the most.

The percentage of planarians who scored under three minutes was also analyzed. There was a timer set for three minutes and the number of planarians that had completed the maze under that time was calculated over the total individuals in the group. The mean values for each group were calculated by the standard function of Excel. All values were stored on MS Excel spreadsheets. This was also demonstrated in a bar graph, with the x-axis representing the groups and the y-axis representing the percentage calculated. ANOVA test was also used to determine the significance of completing the maze in under three minutes among the groups. ANOVA followed up by Tukey HSD was conducted to determine the significant difference using www.astatsa.com.

The population was also analyzed from each treatment group by the end of each week. All values were recorded and stored on MS Excel spreadsheets. This was represented in a line graph, with the y-axis representing the population in numbers and the x-axis representing the time in weeks. Each line of the graph represented each group of the initial population of ten individuals. This graph thus showed the overall population assessment of the planarians under treatment conditions. If there is a population decay, it can be concluded that the concentration in sage was lethal while if there is a population growth, it can be concluded that the concentration in sage was beneficial in the preservation of and development of the overall population.

Results

Figure 3: Trial 1 After treatment values with groups A, B, and C. Values represent mean ± SD. Values with different superscripts are significantly different, p<0.01.

This graph showcases the values of the groups after treatment except for group A, since it is the control group. Each bar represents the mean time plus and minus the standard deviation value of each group. ANOVA followed up by Tukey HSD was conducted to determine the significant difference using www.astatsa.com. Groups B and C were both significantly different from control group A. However, there was no significant difference between groups B and C. On average, group A had a mean time of 2.25 minutes while groups B and C had a mean time of 1.75 minutes.

Figure 4: Trial 1 Comparison between Before and After values. Values represent mean ± SD. Values with different superscripts are significantly different, p<0.01.

The graph contains before and after values for groups A, B, and C only due to complications with groups D and E. Groups D and E may have been handled haphazardly, resulting in the elimination of the members and thus the groups. However, when looking at the bars of treatment groups B and C, there was a significant reduction in the time spent in the maze after the sage solution treatment. Each bar represents the mean time plus and minus the standard deviation value of each group. A paired t-test was conducted for both groups B and C to analyze the significance between the before and after values. The p-value for group B was 0.000327 which is significant since p<0.01. The p-value for group C was 0.001664 which is also significant since p<0.01.

Figure 5: Trial 1 of the total percent of planarians scoring the maze under 3 minutes.

This line graph shows the number of planarians that completed the maze over the total amount of planaria in each group. Each line represents their respective groups. According to the graph, control group A had the lowest percentages scored compared to other groups B and C. Group B and C had similar results of percent scored under three minutes over the course of four days. When the mean of the percent scored under three minutes were taken, both groups B and C had a mean percent of 82.5% score the maze in the given time frame over the course of the days of the experiment.

Figure 6: Trial 1 population growth of the planarian groups.

This scattered plot line graph shows the population changes over the course of 4 weeks with substantial feeding and care. Each line represents their respective groups. Groups D and E both declined sharply after the first week due to improper care. The population of control group A was constant throughout the experiment. Groups B and C both increased by 2 or 3 additional planarians. Group B increased to 12 planarians from the original 10 by week 2 and increased by one more by the fourth week. Group C increased to 11 by week 2, then 13 by week 3, and 14 by week 4. The rapid increase in population growth may be due to the antioxidant effect of the sage solution.

Figure 7: Trial 2 results following treatment with food reward and without food reward. Values represent mean ± SD. Values with different superscripts are significantly different, p<0.01. Apostrophes represent no reward being compared to each other. Letters without apostrophes represent reward compared to each other

This graph displays the relationship between using a food reward to complete the maze and the time needed to complete the maze with a food incentive. Each bar represents the different groups, with the blue bar displaying the time needed to complete the maze with a reward and the orange bar displaying the time needed to complete the maze without a reward. As can be seen from the graph, the control group adhered to information closely, similar to the other groups when a food reward was not present. However, the treatment did work for groups B, C, D, and E, which completed the maze faster with a food incentive. This graph shows that food reward does not significantly play a role in completing the maze.

Figure 8: Trial 2 values of before treatment and following treatment without a food incentive on the time needed to complete the T-Maze. Values represent mean ± SD. Values with different superscripts are significantly different, p<0.01. The asterisk indicates p<0.05.

This graph shows the comparison of before-treatment values and after-treatment values with no food reward on the time of the planarians in the maze. Each bar represents the different groups, with the blue bar displaying the time needed to complete the maze with a reward before treatment and the orange bar displaying the time needed to complete the maze without a reward after treatment. Contrasting to the previous figure, the time was greatly reduced between the first time completing the maze and the last day (96 hours after treatment) with no food. Treatment groups B and D both had significant differences of less than 0.01 while treatment group E had a significant difference of less than 0.05. Group C had similar results to other treatment groups following treatment, however, it did not have a significant difference to its before-treatment value.

Figure 9: Trial 3 the effect of the treatment over the course of three days. Values represent mean ± SD. Values with different superscripts are significantly different, p<0.01. The asterisk indicates p<0.05.

This graph shows the overall change in the time spent in the maze for each group. Each set of bars represents each distinct group, with each color representing the group performance for each day. Group A had the least change in time spent in the maze. This shows that compared to groups with sage, the memory retention of the control group was less significant and short-term. Groups C and D showed the best effect after 2 days of treatment. On the third day, they were able to perform significantly faster than other days, p<0.01. However, these two groups have also performed relatively fast even before the treatment. Although, compared to group A, groups C and D both show faster memory retention as represented by a lower bar graph on time spent in the maze. Groups B and E both showed the best improvement over the course of the 3 days.

Discussion and Conclusions

The application of the sage solution on planarian memory recall supports the hypothesis. In trial 1, groups B and C spent a minute less in the maze than the control group and their before-treatment values. Most of the group's memory capacity allowed them to remember enough information to finish the maze in less than three minutes. The ANOVA test between group B and group C did not yield significant findings, even though they differ significantly from the control group and their baseline values. This demonstrates that there is no discernible difference between the treatment value of 0.001 g/mL and the treatment value of 0.002 g/mL.

It was necessary to conduct another trial after the resulting Groups D and E in Trial 1 were dead after treatment. This was the result of a lack of rigorous procedure. This conclusion resulted from several actions, including neglect, cross-contamination from objects on the lab table, sedimentation in the sage solution treatment, and other such actions. Future experiments should carefully consider rigorously cleaning the utensils, preparing more sage solutions to prevent significant sedimentation, and closely monitoring the treatment progress to stop this from occurring.

In trial two of the experiment, the role of the food reward on the time spent in the maze by the planarian groups was evaluated. The role of the food following treatment did not have an intrinsic effect on the time spent in the maze. The group's reward and no-reward situations after treatment were evaluated using paired t-tests to determine the influence of food reward on the time, and no significant difference was observed. Memory retention in group A was equally similar to treatment groups B, C, and E. However, group D had a significant difference when compared to the rest of the groups. This shows that group D is the most optimal choice of treatment concentration. A conclusion that can be drawn from figure 7 is that Group D performed the best out of the groups after treatment without a food reward. Group D was significantly different from the control group, groups B, C, and E.

The comparison between before-treatment values and after-treatment values without a food reward was also evaluated. Groups B and D equated the best results, with a significant difference of less than 0.01 between the before-treatment and the following treatment without food incentive time spent in the maze. Group E had a median result of a significant difference of less than 0.05, which yields important data but may not prove the best results when compared with groups B and D. Group C did not have a significant difference when compared before treatment and following treatment. This might be due to the fast time group C already had before the administration of the treatment; therefore, their memories were already retained quicker than those of the other groups.

Trial 3 of the experiment yielded one of the most significant results. Trial 3 showed the full overview of the level of memory retention between the days after treatment and the day before. Group A steadily remained the same except for day 1 after treatment. Therefore, group A did have an extreme value during day 1 but returned to the normal time from before treatment after day 1. Group B took a day to improve memory retention levels after treatment. Group B greatly increased after day 1 and slowly adapted to memory retention levels on day 3. Group C took longer than the other experimental groups to improve memory retention. However, on day 3, group C was able to significantly improve memory retention for p<0.01. Group D performed similarly to Group C. Group E showed the best improvement in memory retention over the course of three days after treatment versus before treatment. Almost immediately after the first day of being administered the treatment, group E reached a significance of p<0.01, then transitioned slightly lower to p<0.05, and lastly returned to the greatest significance of p<0.01. This shows that group E was one of the only groups that best assessed the use of sage on memory.

Population sizes for both trials 2 and 3 in all groups were consistent with a baseline of 10 planarians. Almost none of the groups had a population below 10.

Additional research should be conducted to demonstrate the connection between sage solution concentrations and planaria memory retention. The results of this study only present the consequences of using sage solution compared to the control group. However, it was not able to address specific relationships between memory retention and sage concentration. Based on the results, different experimental groups showed different results that were also inconsistent with their sage concentration. Another future implication of this research is the issue of a toxicity assay to understand the safe range of sage concentrations on planarians.

Acknowledgments

We thank Ms. Amy Zhu, Dr. L. Wang, Dr. J. Cohen, Dr. X. Lin, Mr. Z. Liang, Ms. N.

Jaipershad, Dr. D. Marmor, and the FLHS Science Department for funding.

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