A review.Ginkgo biloba extract, EGb 761, is a drug used to treat cerebral insufficiency and other brain disorders (including dementia), neurosensory deficiencies and peripheral circulatory disturbances.First marketed in 1975, it has been subjected to numerous clin., pharmacol., and mol. studies.The synthesis presented here demonstrates the consistency of the data about its multiple effects in the treatment of age-associated cognitive disorders.Current research on EGb 761 is not limited to its effects in humans.Although the development of drugs normally proceeds from basic research to the study of clin. effects, EGb 761 provides an example of the reverse procedure: its clin. applications have been studied before the mol. mechanisms involved were investigated.I propose to call this mode of research "reverse pharmacol.", by analogy with "reverse genetics", and I show how it applies to the study of the cognitive and anti-dementia effects of EGb 761.