Clinical Efficacy of Medhya Rasayana in Combating Smart-Screen Induced Cognitive Fatigue: A Neuro-Ayurvedic Framework for Contemporary Digital Illness

Abstract

ABSTRACT Prolonged exposure to high-luminance smart-screens across vocational, academic, and domestic environments has introduced a modern epidemiological crisis known as screen-induced cognitive fatigue. This clinical syndrome is characterized by a multi-systemic failure of top-down cognitive governance, presenting as executive dysfunction, depleted working memory capacity, severe attentional lapses, neuro-visual exhaustion, and continuous low-grade digital burnout. In contemporary biomedical systems, treatment options remain predominantly limited to non-pharmacological behavioral revisions, failing to offer direct neuro-restorative or targeted chemical protection. In contrast, classical Ayurveda provides a robust conceptual, diagnostic, and therapeutic matrix that maps this state through the interlocking pathologies of Majja Dhatu Kshaya (depletion of nervous system tissue essence), Prana-Sadhaka Disruption, and Prajnaparadha (volitional transgressions against somatic boundaries). This paper presents an exhaustive clinical investigation into the efficacy, molecular mechanisms, pharmacokinetics, and neuro-Ayurvedic synthesis of Medhya Rasayana—a highly specific category of nootropic botanicals including Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi), Centella asiatica (Mandukaparni), Convolvulus prostratus (Shankhapushpi), and Glycyrrhiza glabra (Yashtimadhu). Combining findings from a 180-day randomized triple-arm trial with extensive institutional data across diverse clinical cohorts, we demonstrate that structured administration of Medhya Rasayana significantly reverses digital cognitive depletion. Statistically reliable improvements are observed in objective metrics of attention retention, executive processing speed, and working memory performance. These outcomes correlate with a significant down-regulation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, attenuation of cortisol-driven HPA-axis hyper-reactivity, and robust up-regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This clinical synthesis provides an evidence-based, safe, and highly effective therapeutic path for deploying traditional nootropics as a structural countermeasure against digital cognitive attrition.

KEYWORDS: Medhya Rasayana, Cognitive Fatigue, Smart-Screen Overuse, Neuro-Ayurvedic Paradigm, Bacopa monnieri, Acetylcholinesterase, Neuroplasticity, Digital Burnout.