Objective To study if ganglioside (GLS) may promote the recovery the neurological deficits after cerebral ischemia in rats and the me chanism about it.Method Focal cerebral ischemia was made by a 3－ hour occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery(MCA)using nylon monofi1ament in rats and was fo1lowed by reperfusion.GLS was intraperitoneally administered 30 minutes and 3 hours after ischemia and daily during the observation period. Bederson's method was used to evaluate the neurological deficits. The activity of the neurotrophic factors (NTFs) in the periischemic brain tissue extract (BTE) and the effect of GLS on the activity were observed in cultured neuronsfrom the newbom rat cortex and basal ganglia.Result GLS improved the neurologicalfUnction recovery after cerebral ischemia. The BTE of GLS treatment groap supportedneuronal survival and promoted neurite outgrowth about l00 μ m. The number of neuronswas significantly higher in the presence of the BTE from treatment grouP as compared with the BTE from control group (P<0.05).Conclusion it indicated that GLS improved the recovery of the nevrological deficits by potentiating the activety of nevro trophic factors.