Nootropics - AKA Smart Drugs
This is one of my favorite subjects!
A good starting resource are the books (Smart Drugs and Smart Drugs II) by Ward Dean MD and John Morgenthaler.
With all the drugs and supplements, however, is high variability in whether or not they will work.
There is a higher likelihood of success if the substance addresses a deficit or dysfunction in function, e.g. a mental disorder or nutritional deficiency or hormone imbalance, etc.
Side effects of the subtances often limit their effectiveness - often directly opposing the intended effect.
One example is the use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in people who do not have a deficit in acetylcholine production (e.g. those who don't have alzheimer's disease). One of the functions of acetylcholine (accomplished by interneurons - neurons that connect neurons traveling in parallel) is to inhibit dopamine release - regulating dopamine levels in certain parts of the brain. Excessive acetylcholine levels then may impair memory by inhibiting dopamine release.
It is important to optimize but not create an imbalance by excess in the neuroendocrine system in order to improve brain function since the system functions as an integrated whole.
In regard to hormones, optimal levels are crucial to optimize brain functioning. Estrogen is necessary to improve glucose utilization, to promote nerve growth (primarily in women) and new connections, to increase production of receptors for serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine and androgens, to act as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (increasing serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine), among its myriad functions. Progesterone is necessary to control activty of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA and glutamate. Testosterone controls dopamine levels - and I suspect has the nerve growth function that estrogen has in women.
I believe optimized levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone significantly improves attention and formation of memory. I have seen the greatest improvements in attention, memory, and abilty to think when these three are optimized. The improvement generaly is very rapid. Interestingly, as we age, the relationships of these hormones become impaired - often with reductions in testosterone and progesterone in both men and women. These contribute to the memory problems most people over 40 experience and call "CRS Syndrome" - or Can't Remeber Shit Syndrome. Of course, few physicians measure hormone levels in people and thus this is a huge hidden problem.
Stimulants (by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine) can reliably improve brain function by speeding brain activity and increasing stamina - allowing longer periods of study. They are limited, however, in people who do not have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (which I believe is a disorder or dopamine resistance) because of adverse effects from short duration of action and excessive dopamine and norepinephrine levels. These include withdrawal effects, abuse, and adrenal insufficiency (from higher stress levels induced by excess norepinephrine levels). Adrenal insufficiency impairs a person's ability to produce glucose as needed to handle stress. This then impairs one's ability to attend to tasks and to form memory. Thus balance and avoidance of excessive use needs to be kept in mind in order to use stimulants reliably. For most stimulants, only short term use can be done to avoid adverse effects. Of course, I don't condone illegal use of stimulants.
A problem of excessive stimulant use is impaired sleep. The REM sleep stage is necessary to consolidate and store memory. Animals, such as the turkey, who do not have REM sleep, have poor ability to retain memories. Sleep deprivation itself impairs attention, judgment, and forces the brain to resort to microbursts of sleep - which in turn leads to accidents. Thus sleep deprivation impairs optimum brain function.
Another factor in stimulant use is a limitation in the type of learning that can be done. For example, Caffeine - the most commonly used stimulant in the world - gives you the stamina to learn more, but it primarily is best with rote learning. It makes memorization of facts easier, but creative thinking is inhibited. Stimulants, such as Ritalin, in excess, can make a person more obsessive. Obsessiveness can be considered a condition of excess attention - excessive to the point one cannot shift away from the subject at hand, limiting one's ability to parallel think, to multitask, to do non-linear thinking. One, then, can become rule-bound, impaired in ability to think creatively, or understand a subject conceptually as opposed to the memorization of facts.
It is highly important to address insulin resistance to optimize brain function. Usually, when I see a fasting glucose of 105-124 (which often is called a pre-diabetic condition and is not treated), I think that person has insulin resistance. Insulin resistance directly impairs nerve electrical signal transmission and neurotransmiter release by impairing glucose utilization. Insulin resistance also causes multiple hormone impairments, including reduced testosterone productionl. Glucophage (metformin) and numerous other supplements including biotin (a B-vitamin) can reduce insulin resistance with relative safety.
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