Nootropics: The Good and The Bad; Series Review

Over the last several years I have been hearing a lot about brain boosting supplements also known as nootropics. Many of these are natural and can be bought over the counter. These supplements are commonly sold on websites that represent pharmaceutical websites; people think that these supplements are completely harmless and come without side effect. That can be true for a lot of these supplements, but definitely no universal.

I’ve been doing some literature searches on these supplements as I have been hearing a lot about Alpha Brain on the Joe Rogan podcast. My initial search in google scholar for “nootropic supplements” came up with an article in Innovative Clinical Neuroscience, 2015 that was discussing a few compounds with pretty serious side effects. To state initially, none of these are found in the Alpha Brain and the point of this thought blog is not to support or denounce the benefits of Alpha Brain.

Before we get into discussing the individual compounds and their side effects I want to add a brief note on how a lot of these work. Many of these compounds act on receptors in the brain that can enhance neurocognition by increasing neurotransmitter availability, synaptic efficiency and transmission, neuronal excitability, increasing vascular dilation thereby increasing cerebral blood flow. The mechanism of action that allows for these downstream side effects happen at the molecular level and act at many of the same receptors used in the pharmacological treatment of neurodegenerative disease. With that being said, however, it should not be taken for granted. All because they may act at similar receptors does not mean that they have the same effects. Research everything that you put into your body and identify the side effects.

This first article that I came by was talking about armordafinil, citocoline, piracetam, ampakines, and cerebrolysin. Each of these supplements had similar beneficial effects ranging from wakefulness to increased memory recall. The deleterious side effects ranged from diarrhea to vertigo, not to mention the exacerbation of psychiatric illness.

Armordafinil is the racemic isomer of modafinil—a known drug used in promoting wakefulness in patients with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea. Even though armordafinil works in a very similar way and has very similar desirable results the side effects include diarrhea and nasopharyngitis.

Citocoline is a compound that is currently being studied for the treatment of ischemic stroke, dementia, and parkinson’s disease. This compound modulates acetylcholine, dopamine, and glutamate; all of the neurotransmitters involved in neuronal excitation. The use of this in addition to increased wakefulness can also include fatigue, tremor, and diarrhea.

Piracetam is a compound that is structurally similar to GABA but functionally unrelated. It can act, however, at AMPA, Glutamate, and NMDA receptors. This compound is useful in treating the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Yes, this would mean that it can increase memory and cognition but at the cost of psycho motor agitation, dysphoria, and diarrhea.

Ampakines, as the name relates act at and enhance the activity at the glutamatergic AMPA receptor. This can lead to increased learning, cognition, and memory. Interestingly this can lead to long-term deficits in spatial memory and even motor function.

Cerebrolysin promotes synaptic formation and cholinergic fiber regeneration. This is currently being used to treat ischemic stroke in China and Russia. The side effects are seemingly less severe and include hot flashes and vertigo.

The above compounds can be found in various natural food supplement shops and readily available on the internet.

For more common brain boosting supplements, see Part 2!

Nootropic drug noopept: Topics by Science.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved February 7, 2019, from https://www.science.gov/topicpages/n/nootropic+drug+noopept.html

Performance enhancement at the cost of potential brain plasticity: neural ramifications of nootropic drugs in the healthy developing brain. (n.d.). Retrieved February 7, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4026746/

Qian, Z. M., & Ke, Y. (2014). Huperzine A: Is it an Effective Disease-Modifying Drug for Alzheimer’s Disease? Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2014.00216

Suliman, N. A., Mat Taib, C. N., Mohd Moklas, M. A., Adenan, M. I., Hidayat Baharuldin, M. T., & Basir, R. (2016). Establishing Natural Nootropics: Recent Molecular Enhancement Influenced by Natural Nootropic. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : ECAM, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/4391375

Talih, F., & Ajaltouni, J. (2015). Probable Nootropicinduced Psychiatric Adverse Effects: A Series of Four Cases. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 12(11–12), 21–25. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4756795/

Wong, R. H. X., Howe, P. R. C., Bryan, J., Coates, A. M., Buckley, J. D., & Berry, N. M. (2012). Chronic Effects of a Wild Green Oat Extract Supplementation on Cognitive Performance in Older Adults: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial. Nutrients, 4(5), 331–342. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu4050331