Nootropics, also called smart drugs, brain health supplements, or pharmacological cognitive enhancers, claim to improve your cognitive function and boost executive functions such as memory, creativity, motivation, concentration, learning, and attention.
Many prescription nootropics are now sold online as OTC supplements. The manufacturers call them “miraculous” pills, claiming that they help you work through the night.
Most students and office-goers often rely on either modafinil (Provigil) or armodafinil (Nuvigil) to do well in academics and meet their deadlines. The companies also claim that nootropics make you good at playing videogames.
Dr. Lindsey Migliore, aka @GamerDoc on Twitter, told Jody Macgregor for PC Gamer, “If you look at the ‘data’ backing the claims these companies are making, they’re largely funded by the company producing the product, with disparagingly low numbers [of participants]. The companies are the ones designing the study, recruiting participants, and interpreting the results. That’s not ethical science.”
Do smart drugs made from plant extracts actually have medical benefits? Dr. Migliore said it is possible, but ingesting such compounds is unlikely to help you.
“If you spend 10-15 minutes outside every day and eat a balanced diet, your vitamin D levels are most likely normal,” Dr. Migliore told Macgregor. “Will taking a supplement of vitamin D do anything for you? Probably not. On the other hand, if you avoid the sunlight and don’t eat meat, your vitamin D levels may be low. For those people, a vitamin D supplement might lead to increased energy.”
She went on to say, “What nootropic companies are doing is taking a neurotransmitter [brain chemical] that normally occurs in your body, stating what that neurotransmitter does in the body, and misleading the public into thinking that’s not occurring anyways. Acetylcholine is essential to proper brain functioning and memory formation. But most humans have absolutely perfect levels.”
There is absolutely no data suggesting that smart drugs improve your brain function above normal levels, according to Dr. Migliore.
“But, for people with low levels of acetylcholine due to some neurodegenerative condition, then there might be a benefit,” she added. “That population represents less than 0.1 percent of the world, and cannot be extrapolated to the everyday gamer.” For more information on what Dr. Migliore had said about smart drugs, read the article titled “Nootropics Marketed To Esports Viewers Aren’t Necessarily Safe” on PC Gamer.
