Some laboratory research has investigated the biological activity of erythravine, but the relevance to effects in humans is unknown.

[1] It appears to have anxiolytic effects in animal models of anxiety.

Further studies suggest that the anxiolytic effects are only reproducible with the whole extract of Erythrina mulungu but not with the pure alkaloids.

[2][3] Erythravine inhibited seizures evoked by bicuculline, pentylenetetrazole, and kainic acid as well as increasing the latency of seizures induced by NMDA.

Treatment with erythravine prevented death in all the animals tested with the four convulsants except a few of those treated with kainic acid.