Healthcare Triage: What Are Nootropics? Are They Going to Make You Smarter?

Aaron Carroll

November 30, 2015

I don’t know why, but you all keep asking for an episode on nootropics. For those of you who aren’t in the know, those are drugs which are supposed to enhance cognitive function. Nootropics are the topic of this week’s Healthcare Triage.

For those of you who want to read more:

Effects of modafinil on non-verbal cognition, task enjoyment and creative thinking in healthy volunteers
Modafinil Increases the Latency of Response in the Hayling Sentence Completion Test in Healthy Volunteers: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Modafinil and methylphenidate for neuroenhancement in healthy individuals: A systematic review
Evidence for the efficacy of piracetam for dementia or cognitive impairment is inadequate for clinical use but sufficient to justify further research
Get ahead in Silicon Valley: take nootropic brain drugs
Will ‘Smart Drugs’ Really Make Us Smarter, or Just Ruin Our Lives?
Experimenting With Nootropics to Increase Mental Capacity, Clarity

@aaronecarroll

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Aaron Carroll

Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS is co-Editor-in-Chief of The Incidental Economist and tweets at @aaronecarroll. He is the Chief Health Officer at Indiana University. He is also a Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean for Research Mentoring at the Indiana University School of Medicine. In addition to contributing regularly to The New York Times and the Atlantic, he is the author of four books, most recently The Bad Food Bible.

Healthcare Triage: What Are Nootropics? Are They Going to Make You Smarter?

Hidden information below

Aaron Carroll

The Incidental Economist

Editors In Chief

Managing Editor

Healthcare Triage: What Are Nootropics? Are They Going to Make You Smarter?

Hidden information below

Aaron Carroll

The Incidental Economist

Editors In Chief

Managing Editor

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