〔Abstract〕 Objective To investigate the protective effects and mechanisms of soybean phospholipid powder on nerve cellsin vitroand rats neural tissues. Methods In the cell experiments, the cytotoxicity of soybean phospholipid powder with different concentrations on mouse microglia cells(BV2) and rat adrenal pheochromocytoma(PC12) cells was observed by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) assay. The effect of soybean phospholipid powder on the NO level of BV2 cells was analyzed by NO determination experiment, and the synaptic growth of PC12 cells was observed under the microscope. In the animal experiment, the cognitive dysfunction of rat was simulated by scopolamine rat model. Then the learning and memory abilities of rat were tested by Morris water maze experiment; hippocampal tissue morphology and nerve cell density of scopolamine model mice were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining(HE) staining. Results Soybean phospholipid powder had no obvious cytotoxicity on BV2 cells and PC12 cells within the concentration of 1 000 μg/ml. Compared with the control group, the NO secretion of BV2 cells pretreated with soybean phospholipid powder significantly decreased(P<0.01), and the neuronal synapse growth of PC12 cells significantly increased(P<0.01). In comparison to the model group, soybean phospholipid powder significantly improved the learning and memory ability of scopolamine model rats(P<0.05), reduced the neuronal damage in dentate gyrus(DG), cornu ammonis3(CA3), cornu ammonis1(CA1) areas of hippocampus, and increased the density of nerve cells(P<0.001). Conclusion Soybean phospholipid powder can play a neuroprotective role by reducing neuroinflammation and promoting neuronal synapse growth at the cellular level, and improve the learning and memory ability of rats with cognitive impairment, reduce hippocampal tissue damage.