Based on the use of Acorus gramineus SOLAND (AG) for the treatment of stroke in traditional Korean medicine, the present study was carried out to evaluate neuroprotective effects of ${alpha}$-asarone after transient global cerebral ischemia using rat 4-vessel occlusion (4VO) model in rats. ${alpha}$-Asarone (5 mg/kg) administered intraperitoneally significantly protected CA1 neurons against 10 min transient forebrain ischemia as demonstrated by measuring the density of neuronal cells stained with Cresyl violet. ${alpha}$-Asarone significantly reduced hippocampal neuronal cell death by 85.2% where as its isolated single compounds from AG compared with a vehicle-treated group.