**2. Materials and methods**

### **2.1 Study area**

The research was taken out in the Rif (Northern Morocco) where the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region was located. It extends between 34° to 36° of latitude in the North and 4° to 6° of longitude in the East. It is bordered in the North by the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea, in the South by the Rabat–Sale-Kenitra region and Fez-Meknes region, in the East by the Eastern Region, and in the West by the Atlantic Ocean (**Figure 1**). The total geographical area of the Rif is 11 570 km2 and the population of the city is about 3 549 512 people with a population density rate of 222.2/km<sup>2</sup> [9].

The study area is characterized by a Mediterranean climate with the highest temperature exceeding 45°C during summer (July–August) and under 0°C during winter (December–January) and the average yearly precipitation ranges from 700 to 1300 mm which falls mainly between October and February [10]. It is mountainous with elevations ranging from 145 to 2.456 (Jbel Tidirhine) meters above mean sea level. This area is dominated by species such as *Tetraclinis articulata* (Vahl)

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**Figure 2.**

*Distribution of survey points at the study area level.*

*Neurological Phytotherapy by Indigenous People of Rif, Morocco*

documented data was later translated into English.

Mast., *Cupressus atlantica* Gaussen, *Pinus halepensis* Mill., *Cedrus atlantica* (Endl.) *Quercus suber* L., *Quercus ilex* L., and *Quercus canariensis* Willd. Principally inhabitants of Rif are very much dependent on subsistence agriculture, livestock, and to a minor degree, from forest reserves for their livelihood. Popular medicine is the first choice for the population for health problems, and traditional healers in this area are reputed to have good knowledge of plants and disease treatment [11, 12].

Ethnobotanical investigations were carried out from June 30th, 2016 to June 1st, 2018 to collect knowledge on plant species used to treat neurological disorders in the Rif. The techniques employed for data collection were semi-structured interviews [13], free listing, open-ended, group discussion, and noted and recorded with a digital voice recorder. The free survey was designed to collect data on: Socio-demographic information of the informants (gender, age, academic level, and origin of oral health information) and plants used in the treatment of neurological disorders (local names, popular uses, parts used, the form of preparation, method of administration, and posology). Five hundred twenty interviewees aged 17 to 80 were randomly chosen for discussions (cautery installer, farmers, elder people, bonesetters, herbalists, and therapists) in the study area (houses, pharmacies, weekly markets, hospitals, and mosques). By conducting a stratified random sampling, samples were then formed in each of the 28 strata (**Figure 2**), including seven urban communes, and they are put together to make up the overall sample of all informants. The inhabitants in the study area speak Amazigh, Arabic dialects, and therefore, informants were conducted in Arabic dialects or Amazigh. All the

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97175*

**2.2 Methodology**

*2.2.1 Ethnobotanical survey*

**Figure 1.** *Map of the study area in Morocco.*

*Neurological Phytotherapy by Indigenous People of Rif, Morocco DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97175*

Mast., *Cupressus atlantica* Gaussen, *Pinus halepensis* Mill., *Cedrus atlantica* (Endl.) *Quercus suber* L., *Quercus ilex* L., and *Quercus canariensis* Willd. Principally inhabitants of Rif are very much dependent on subsistence agriculture, livestock, and to a minor degree, from forest reserves for their livelihood. Popular medicine is the first choice for the population for health problems, and traditional healers in this area are reputed to have good knowledge of plants and disease treatment [11, 12].
