The invention relates to the use of cyclic Prolyl Glycine ("cyclic PG" or "cPG") and analogs and mimetics thereof, as neuroprotective agents for the treatment and or prevention of neurological disorders including but not limited to cerebral ischemia or cerebral infarction resulting from a range of phenomena, such as thromboembolic or hemorrhagic stroke, cerebral basospasms, hypoglycemia, cardiac arrest, status epilepticus, perinatal asphyxia, anoxia such as from drowning, pulmonary surgery, and cerebral trauma, as well as to the treatment and prevention of chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease, and as anticonvulsants.