Chapter 9 – The New Edge (Brain Nutrients)
Smart Drugs – The New Frontiers of the Mind
One a day (might) keep the parent-teacher meeting at bay
In the 1970’s, a pharmacologist by the name of Cornelius Giurgea coined the term “nootropics” to describe a class of drugs that have specific effects on the mind. Giurgea’s criteria for a nootropic substance are that it has to:
- Enhance learning and memory, especially under conditions of disturbed neural metabolism resulting from a lack of oxygen, electroshock or age-related changes
- Facilitate information flow between the cerebral hemispheres
- Enhance the general resistance of the brain to physical and chemical injuries
- Be devoid of any other psychological or physiological effects8
Although relatively clear as a layman’s language, these criteria are in fact very vague compared to the strict standards by which modern pharmaceuticals are classified. The criteria that substances toted as modern “smart drugs” have the most problems with is the last one: “Be devoid of any other psychological or physiological effects.” As the results from research now stands, nobody can say with absolute certainty and conviction that smart drugs are perfectly safe for everyone.
Some of the smart drugs being used for nootropic purposes in normal humans were actually developed for treating disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease. “We’re talking about treating elderly people with memory deficits… not 25-year-olds who want to earn more money on the stock market,” says Tom Crook, president of Memory Assessments Clinic Incorporated, a Washington company that specialises in assessing potential memory-boosting drugs for pharmaceutical firms.9 The reasoning is that since certain chemicals can improve the mental functions of people with disorders, their use in normal humans would likewise increase cognitive capacity. Unfortunately, Crook tells us that there is no scientific proof to back up this assertion.10 What evidence there is on the effects of drugs such as Piracetam include details of undesirable side-effects. Both Piracetam and Hydergine can cause insomnia, nausea and other gastrointestinal distress, and headaches. Other drugs cause similar and additional effects, some of them very harmful.11 Regardless of these facts, SD advocates insist on using them. Ward Dean estimates 10,000 users of smart drinks – beverages served at smart bars that contain mostly SNs – and many of those people using actual SDs. Here, then, is a brief look at what all the fuss has been about.
Piracetam – The King of them All
That which started the (snow)ball rolling
The most famous of all smart drugs has to be Piracetam. It was invented by UCB Laboratories in Belgium, and is reported to be an intelligence booster. One of the brand names of pircetam is Nootropil, attesting to its cognitive enhancement abilities.
Piracetam works on the brain as follows: It reduces the effects of hypoxia (reduced oxygen flow) in the brain; it promotes an increased level of data-transfer between the two hemispheres of the brain – essentially, encouraging whole-brain thinking; it is synergistically improved by the additional use of choline (lecithin) and other smart drugs. This “king” of all SDs is used outside of New Edge circles by medical authorities as a treatment for alcoholism, stroke, vertigo, senile dementia, sickle-cell anemia, dyslexia and other disorders. However, Piracetam’s cognitive effects have lately been the focus of attention, and more than any other SD, Piracetam helped bring about the awareness of this new genre of pharmaceuticals. The exact reasoning behind why Piracetam works is unclear. Research on this, and other SDs, has existed in a limbo state: It is hard to tell whether a report is valid or not. As a result, there is no conclusive evidence of the cognitive enhancement effects of Piracetam. On the other hand, there is no conclusive evidence to disprove its effects either.
A recent magazine article says of Piracetam:
- [It] alone has inspired scores of clinical trials over the last 10 years yet still remains in pharmacological limbo. It is just one of hundreds of compounds that have shown great promise in animal experiments – such as helping rats learn their way around mazes – yet seem to produce at best only marginal effects in patients.[12]
Piracetam is not available in North America. It must be imported. The dosage recommended by Smart Drugs & Nutrients is from 2400 mg to 4800 mg daily, in three divided dosages.
A final point that I wish to make about Piracetam – and most other drugs, for that matter – is that it operates on an inverted-U curve of performance. In other words, the effectiveness of Piracetam may initially rise with increasing amounts of the drug, escalating proportionally with intake until it reaches a peak. At that point, effectiveness begins to drop, when too much of the drug is taken, until results become negative – as in overdosing. (Students of economics may understand this as an example of the theory of diminishing marginal returns). Therefore, with any medication, there is an optimum consumption point – the peak of the curve. However, this optimum point varies between people. The important thing to understand is that the relationship between the effectiveness of a drug and the amount taken is not immutable, and performance does not rise infinitely with ever-increasing levels of intake.
Hydergine – The Neural Synthesizer
Making happier little grey cells
Strangely enough, Hydergine is an extract of the ergot fungus, but it should not be confused with the tamer SNs. Hydergine is fully a SD. It was synthesized in the 1940’s by Albert Hoffman13, and is now manufactured by the pharmaecutical firm Sandoz. Its earliest applications included treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (Branconnier, 1983). Hydergine is one of the very few smart drugs that are approved for use in the United States, but a doctor’s prescription is necessary to obtain it.
The bartender at the Nutrient Cafe of San Francisco, known only as “Cat,” offers his personal testimony on the merits of Hydergine: “Smart drugs help me focus. When I use Hydergine, I never feel scattered.”14 Dean & Morgenthaler’ s book states that Hydergine:
- Increases blood supply and oxygen to the brain
- Enhances brain cell metabolism
- Protects against free-radical damage, and inhibits free-radical activity
- Speeds elimination of age pigment (lipofuscin)
- Increases intelligence, memory, learning and recall
- Normalizes systolic blood pressure
In addition, Hydergine may reduce high cholesterol levels in some cases. The primary way that Hydergine acts may be the manner in which it mimicks the substance known as NGF – Nerve Growth Factor. This is not to be confused with the Chlorella Growth Factor discussed previously. NGF is neural-specific. It acts primarily as a stimulant for nerve growth. “NGF stimulates protein synthesis, resulting in the growth of dendrites… Dendrites are the communications connections between nerve and brain cells and are crucial to memory and learning.”15 The potential that NGF holds for cognitive enhancement is tremendous. Brain cells that have been damaged or destroyed can be repaired or regenerated. Unfortunately, the status quo of mainstream NGF research has not yet led to an effective and proven method for this application. Certain SD advocates may be trying to reap the perceived rewards in this pioneering technology through the use of Hydergine.
The U.S. recommended dosage is 3 mg daily. The effects of Hydergine may not be noticeable until several months into the regime. This may be because time is required for the NGF to stimulate the regeneration of enough neural units to make a significant difference.
Vincamine – The Oxygen Booster
High octane for your brain
Vincamine is marketed under several names. One of them is “Oxicebral,” alluding to the oxygen-flow enhancement attributes of the drug. Again, we have a drug extracted from a plant. In this case, the periwinkle. Vincamine is a vasodilator, promoting circulation not unlike ginko biloba.
Vincamine has been prescribed outside of the United States to treat symptoms of reduced blood and oxygen flow to the brain. It has also been allegedly used to improve memory and concentration.
The dosage for Vincamine is 30 mg every 12 hours. It is not available in the United States.
Vasopressin – The Memory Enhancer
A nose job that helps you remember your stuff
Vasopressin is secreted by the posterior portion of the pituitary gland. It is a hormone vital for imprinting of new information into memory. Reputedly, it assists in the learning and recall of large amounts of memory.
Vasopressin is available in the form of a nasal spray, usually under the brand name “Diapid.” Effects are supposed to be experienced within seconds of application. The speedy transport of Vasopressin through the nasal membranes directly into the bloodstream is similar to the manner in which sublinguals enter the body through the mouth. SD advocates use it to “wake up” the mind. The other side of the story is that Vasopressin has been less than friendly to some users. Reports on the undesirable effects of this drug include “pallor, nausea, belching, cramps… etc.”16 Like all other medications, effects may vary among different people when using Vasopressin. The dosage is 12 to 16 USP units per day, or about two whiffs three to four times a day. Vasopressin is available in the United States with a doctor’s prescription.
Nootropics – The Bottom Line
What your doctor might say to you if you dared ask for a prescription
We have examined a good number of compounds, most of them believed by smart drug advocates to enhance cognitive functions. However, because of the lack of substantial evidence to prove, to a reasonable extent, both their effectiveness and safety, the best course of action to take is a conservative one. The future may yet hold the promise of truly safe and effective nootropics. Research into this remarkable area of medicine is going on at a rapid pace. Needless to say, drug companies acknowledge the gains that come with the invention of a nootropic substance. The market value of this future industry has already been projected to be worth more than $40 billion, by 1994.[17] But at the moment we must regard alleged nootropic compounds with a skeptical eye. Steven Rose, the head of the Brain and Behaviour Research Group, at Open University, and who has examined more than 100 studies done on nootropic compounds, wrote that:
There is no reason to assume that, for most of us at most times, our enzymes and neurotransmitter systems are not working at more or less optimal levels. The brain is well buffered against the effects of arbitrary increases or decreases in circulating chemicals so that simply consuming food additives which are acetylcholine precursors will not normally increase your brain acetylcholine level. And even if it did, increasing neurotransmitter activity is no guarantee of increased mental performance; rather, it can be positively deleterious to throw chemical spanners into the exquisitely balanced biochemical system that is the human brain. More does not mean better.18
Indeed, the human brain is the product of millions of years of evolution. Nature had carefully crafted it over the millenia, and we would be foolish and arrogant to doubt her ingenuity or wisdom, believing that in the span of a few years we could harmlessly change her designs. The goal of maximizing cognitive power should not be done at such a critical and virtually irrevocable level of biology. In fact, the better options to turn to when a cybernetic upgrade is required are the machines.
