The Tree Of Damocles
Walking through a lush tropical landscape at midnight, you inhale the scent of exotic flowers and fermenting fallen fruits. Suddenly, a flash of lightning reveals a mysterious tree casting giant sword-like shadows. Your attention is drawn to it, and subsequent lightning flashes reveal swarms of bats. Your pleasant walk is now fraught with a sense of impending doom. It’s reminiscent of Damocles discovering the sword above. You stand under the Oroxylum indicum tree, also known as the midnight horror tree or the tree of Damocles.
Amusing Names and Mysterious Appearance
The Oroxylum indicum tree has a long list of amusing names, our favorites being the ‘midnight horror tree’ and the ‘tree of Damocles’. The first name refers to how creepy this tree can look in tropical lightning storms. The second name refers to the giant seed pods that are carried on high and thin branches. From a distance, these bean pods look like swords, and it looks like there is quite little holding it up! Apart from the amusing names though, Oroxylum indicum has a very rich history of use.
Rich History and Traditional Uses
The tree serves both as a traditional medicine and a food source. People eat various parts of the tree. Most commonly, they pickle the unopened flower pods, resembling capers, and chop up the bean pods for curries. It seems the Oroxylum indicum tree originated in India and has a long history in Ayurveda. It features in the famous Ayurvedic formula Dashmoola, which uses the tree’s roots.
Medicinal Potential and Discovery of Oroxylin A
Dashmoola primarily addresses general aches and pains, and Oroxylum indicum serves similar purposes even alone. Additionally, it traditionally aids digestion, respiratory function, joint comfort, and skin health. Turning away from the roots, we focus on the bark, rich in fascinating flavonoids, especially Oroxylin A. This compound intrigued the nootropic community, but obtaining it was challenging until Sabinsa developed an extract yielding 10% Oroxylin A concentration. This breakthrough enabled the exploration of Oroxylin A’s unique properties, yielding promising results.
The Elusive Oroxylin A
In the early days of natural nootropics, two compounds stood out: Polygala tenuifolia and Oroxylin A. Both were touted as significant dopamine reuptake inhibitors and promoters of neuroplasticity, enhancing nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). While we easily accessed Polygala tenuifolia and produced high-quality extracts, Oroxylin A remained elusive. Synthetic Oroxylin A was prohibitively expensive, and a botanical source seemed non-existent.
After years of searching, obtaining the Oroxylum indicum bark extract standardized to 10% oroxylin was a moment of pure joy! Beta-testing it yielded astonishing results from the very first dose, validating our pursuit. Initially uncertain, an hour after the first 100 mg dose, we experienced a genuine and potent dopamine reuptake inhibition. Until then, no natural plant extract had displayed such a pronounced yet clean dopaminergic effect.
We waited patiently to confirm the neuroplasticity-enhancing effects, and after a few weeks, their authenticity became evident. The significant memory enhancement of Oroxylum indicum emerged gradually, akin to our experiences with other agents like Bacopa monnieri and Lion’s Mane, which modulate nootropic effects through neuroplasticity.
A Natural Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitor
The one aspect of Oroxylin A that everyone was most excited about, was the fact that it functions as a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. If you are unfamiliar with the basics of neurotransmission, here is a quick overview of why taking a dopamine reuptake inhibitor is so interesting.
Dopamine Signaling in Neurons
When nerve impulses travel down a dopaminergic neuron, they can trigger dopamine release in the synapse. This dopamine then floats around in the synaptic cleft, and can bind to receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. Once these receptors have been activated by dopamine, the dopamine unbinds and floats back into the synaptic cleft. Once here, a few things can happen. The dopamine can be degraded by an enzyme called monoamine oxidase (MAO), or it can be absorbed back into the presynaptic neuron where it came from by DAT.
Role of DAT and Oroxylin A in Dopamine Regulation
Once dopamine exits the synaptic cleft, it can’t affect postsynaptic neuron receptors until fresh dopamine release. Blocking DAT with Oroxylin A extends dopamine’s presence, enabling it to bind to postsynaptic receptors and sustain dopaminergic signaling.
Simplified Analogy: Bathtub Scenario
To simplify further, consider this analogy: Picture a bathtub as the synaptic cleft, your hand as the nerve impulse, dopamine as water from the tap, DAT as the drain, and Oroxylin A as the stopper. When your hand (nerve impulse) opens the tap, dopamine flows out, but drains quickly due to the open drain (DAT). Placing the stopper (Oroxylin A) prevents immediate drainage, allowing dopamine to accumulate in the bathtub (synaptic cleft). Thus, more dopamine remains available for signaling.
Importance of Dopaminergic Signaling for Cognitive Functions
Extra dopaminergic signaling is important to us, because it is a major mediator of focus, motivation, memory, mood, reward and even pain! In the case of Oroxylum indicum, we are mostly interested in its ability to enhance executive function. This translates to significantly higher levels of focus, while also being able to boost motivation. This can really come in handy either when your general level of focus is not fantastic or when you are endlessly procrastinating! No wonder elevating dopamine levels is such a popular choice amongst students who need long periods of intense focus prior to their exams!
Oroxylum indicum: A Stackers Dream
Another very nice aspect of Oroxylum indicum, is that it fits into lots of different stacks. For example, if you’ve got a stack nicely dialed in but just need a little bit more of a dopaminergic push, then Oroxylum indicum fits in really well. Furthermore, dopamine is important for memory, so it will work very nicely in memory stacks, and surprisingly, dopamine plays a major role in pain processing so it will work well in pain stacks too. In our experience, Oroxylum indicum plays quite nicely with most botanicals and compounds, and thus, stacking with it is quite easy. Nevertheless, it can help to have a bit of inspiration, so here are a few of our favorite stacking ideas.
Also read our blog on Reishi Mushroom
