Clever Brain

Also known as smart drugs, cognitive enhancers and memory enhancers, nootropics allegedly enhance one or more aspects of mental functions. The mental functions enhanced by a nootropic could be:

• Intelligence;
• Motivation;
• Memory;
• Cognition;
• Concentration;
• Attention; and/or,
• Motivation.

Nootropics can take the form of nutraceuticals, functional foods, supplements and drugs. Examples of nootropic supplements include Docosahexaenoic Acid, Dimethylaminoethanol and Fo-ti, though each of them could also be described as functional foods as they are natural supplements found in foods such as certain types of fish or certain types of mushrooms. Examples of nootropic drugs would be Adderal and Piracetam. An example of a nootropic nutraceutical cognitive enhancer would be Maxodin.

It was the Romanian doctor, Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea, who first came up with the work nootropic in 1972. Dr. Giurgea created nootropic from the Greek words for “mind” and for “to bend” or “to turn.”

It is generally believed that nootropics work by changing a person’s brain’s supply of enzymes, hormones, and/or neurotransmitters (the brain’s neurochemicals) through the increase of oxygen supply or the stimulation of the growth of the brain’s nerves.

In most instances, however, the effectiveness of nootropics have not been determined conclusively. One of the main barriers in determining a nootropic’s effectiveness is the problems occurring in defining, as well as quantifying, intelligence and cognition.

There are many who believe that brain training through the use of brain teasers, puzzles and other games and methods of brain training, in combination with nootropics, is the best and most effective manner in which to increase one’s brain power. It is also thought that a person’s overall diet and level of physical fitness and physical activities may result in changes to the effectiveness of nootropics as well as general changes in the brain power of an individual.