From: Ramez Naam (ramezn@Exchange.Microsoft.com)
Date: Sat Jan 29 2000 - 20:36:37 MST
There is a reasonable if slightly moldy online summary of common smart drugs
at http://www.uta.fi/~samu/OLD/SMARTS2.html
Hydergine, Piracetam (Nootropil), and either Centrophenoxine or DMAE are
reasonable choices. Aniracetam may be a better choice than Piracetam, as it
has greater evidence of being effective in improving memory in young (vs.
aged) subjects.
Bear in mind that these drugs tend to have synergistic effects and taking
them in combination usually magnifies the dose significantly. If you take
more than one, consider ramping up your usage slowly and one drug at a time,
giving yourself time to acclimate and note any changes that occur when you
add a substance to your cocktail.
A word on effectiveness: There are a few indications that are at least some
of these substances in high dosages are effective in improving long term
memory in mammals. However, the size of the effect seen here is small, and
there is no evidence of impact on short term memory (which is more closely
correlated with problem solving and general intelligence). Also note that
the evidence on long term memory suggests that it is dosage of the drug
during *encoding* of the memory that is most relevant (rather than during
*retrieval* of the memory).
What is more clear is that a large number of drugs classified as nootropics
are powerful neuroprotectants, likely to protect against ageing, anoxia, and
cognition-degrading drugs. So from that perspective use may well be
justified. I would set your expectations fairly low as far as immediate and
obvious effects on your current cognitive powers, though.
See also: Smart Drugs and Nutrients I & II, news:rec.drugs.smart
mez
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim Ventura [mailto:TVentura@illuminet.com]
> Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2000 5:42 PM
> To: extropians@extropy.org
> Subject: SmartDrug Questions
>
>
> I'm looking for advice and experience with Nootropics--I'm
> interested in Hydergine and possibly Nootropil, but is there
> anything that any of you take that might also work well? I
> know that there are several things out there that could
> qualify as "workable", I'm just not sure what to take.
> Tim Ventura reply-to: tventura@illuminet.com
>
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