Are ‘smart drugs’ all they claim to be?

Credit: Pixabay. Some people take recreational drugs to escape reality but there’s a growing cultural movement that involves using substances in order to heighten one’s relationship to reality. Nootropics, also known as “smart drugs”, are an emerging class of drugs that promise to enhance memory and cognitive functions. They’re increasingly used by many professionals in order to boost their ability to think under stress, stay alert, and generally be more productive. Like Olympic athletes who always want to push their bodies to the limit, some want to chemically tweak their brains for peak performance. It’s no surprise that the epicenter of the smart drug movement — and ‘biohacking’ in general — is in Silicon Valley. Mind-bending enhancers But are these drugs all that they claim to be? The reality is that there is little convincing scientific evidence to suggest that they significantly boost performance. Some may have cause health issues. Nootropics — a combination of the Greek words “nous” (mind) and “trepein” (to turn or bend) — have been around for more than 50 years. They were first synthesized by Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea, a Romanian chemist and psychologist, who also made a list of requirements for a substance to be classed as a nootropic. According to Giurgea, a nootropic must: enhance memory, concentration, and motivation; manage mood, depression, and anxiety; increase physical performance; allow new thought patterns; protect brain cells; enhance sleep. A nootropic should provide one or more of these positive outcomes without any negative side effects or toxicity. For instance, caffeine shouldn’t be considered a nootropic because it can cause dependence and withdrawal in some habitual users. Nootropics — we don’t know enough yet But do nootropic cocktails actually work on healthy people? “Who the heck knows?” Kim Urban, a Philadelphia neurophysiologist who has studied the […]

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