What is a Nootropic?
What if I told you there was a class of compounds that can enhance your productivity and focus, giving you that mental edge for any cognitively intensive task? Well, these compounds are called nootropics and they’re quickly becoming the go-to dietary supplement for anyone seeking higher executive function. That’s not all, nootropics have also been identified as key contributors to overall brain health, protecting it from various neurodegenerative diseases.
While nootropics have gained popularity over the last five years or so, the term “nootropic” goes back all the way to the 1960s after the synthesis of the first nootropic: piracetam. Piracetam was synthesized by chemist Corneliu E. Giurgea, who defined a nootropic as a compound that must enhance learning and memory, protect the brain against various injuries, and have little to no adverse effects or overall toxicity. Since then, hundreds of nootropic compounds have been discovered and brought to market, but few live up to their hype. Let’s explore the current landscape of nootropics and evaluate if Giurgea’s definition still stands the test of time.
Types
Nootropics are typically categorized into three distinct categories: dietary supplements, synthetic derivatives, and prescribed medications. For example, some of the most popular nootropics used today as dietary supplements include Lions Mane mushrooms, Ginkgo Biloba extract, and CDP-Choline. These nootropics are naturally occurring and have been well established in recent literature for their nootropic benefits such as enhancing learning and memory. Additionally, many of these nootropics have been shown to be efficacious in improving overall health, including improving resistance to stress and immune function. On the other hand, synthetic nootropics include compounds such as those found in the racetams class. Synthetic nootropics are often stimulating and lack well-established research on their effects on humans. The final class of nootropics are prescribed as medications and include drugs such as Adderall, Vyvanse, Ritalin, and Modafinil. These medications are typically prescribed to treat diagnoses such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and neurodegenerative disease. Many of these medications are highly stimulatory and taking too high of a dose can lead to prominent, negative side effects such as heart palpitations, insomnia, shakiness/restlessness (often deemed “jitters”), anxiety, and high blood pressure. A recent study investigating the effects of psychostimulants on cognition, Dr. Suzanne Wood, PhD explored how stimulants affect our “arousal function”. Dr. Wood’s work showed that there is an optimal level of arousal that humans need for enhanced learning and attention; too little stimulation and we become bored and uninterested, too much and we experience increased emotional distress and anxiety.
Wood S, Sage JR, Shuman T, Anagnostaras SG. Psychostimulants and cognition: a continuum of behavioral and cognitive activation. Pharmacol Rev. 2013 Dec 16;66(1):193-221. doi: 10.1124/pr.112.007054. PMID: 24344115; PMCID: PMC3880463.
