Context: Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standley (LS), commonly known as ‘bottle gourd’ (English), possesses several medicinal properties; little is known about its action as nerve tonic.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the neuropharmacological activities of methanolic extract of Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standley fruits (MLSF) using several experimental (animal behavioral) models.

Materials and Methods: Adult Wistar albino rats were subjected to behavior despair and elevated plus maze (EPM) tests. Thiopental induced sedation and rotarod tests were conducted on Swiss albino mice.

Results and Discussion: The effects of MLSF on anxiety, depression, thiopental induced sleeping time, and rotarod performance were evaluated. The anxiolytic activity of MLSF (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) per os (p.o.) was characterized by increased time spent and number of entries in open arms in the EPM paradigm as compared to control group (p < 0.001). The MLSF (50,100, and 200mg/kg, p.o.) showed dose dependent significant reduction in duration of immobility (p < 0.01) in behavior despair test. The MLSF at the doses 50 and 100 mg/kg, i.p. was found to produce a significant reduction in motor coordination (p<0.001) and prolongation of thiopental induced sleeping time (p<0.001). The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins and sterols in fruits.

Conclusion: The results of the study for the first time show that the plant possesses anxiolytic, anti-depressant and sedative like activities confirming the traditional claims. Future research should focus on the isolation and identification of the phytoconstituents responsible for activities of LS.