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Smart Drugs & Nutrients:

How to Improve Your Memory and Increase Your Intelligence Using the Latest Discoveries In Neuroscience

VOLUME 1 in the Smart Drugs Series

by Ward Dean, M.D. & John Morgenthaler
$12.95 - 224 pages, softcover (Out of Stock)

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Section 3: The Use of Cerebroactive Compounds

Although most of the smart drugs and nutrients discussed in this book are remarkably free from adverse side effects, combinations of these substances alone or with other nu­trients or drugs may have unknown adverse effects. We recommend consulting a knowledgeable physician before embarking on a cognition-enhancing program.

If you are going to experiment with any of these compounds, we recommend that you add only one at a time to your smart drug regimen. This is the only way you will be able to distinguish the effects of the compounds.

Although we discuss dosage ranges for each of the smart drugs and nutrients, please think of these dosages as general guidelines. The dosages here have been derived for the "average" person, based on statistical findings in the re­search. However, you are not average. Each person's biochemistry is unique, and only you can determine how much of each compound is optimal for you. Studies show that for any particular compound, an optimum dosage may vary from person to person by as much as 20 times.

Remember Goldilocks? Well, the key to using cognition enhancers is to find the dose that's not too much and not too little, but "just right."

Facilitation of short‑term memory in rats with pramiracetam. (Redrawn from Poschel, 1983.)

"A bell‑shaped dose‑effect relationship is a typical feature of all drugs acting on cognitive processes" (Pepeu, 1989). The graph above is an example of a bell‑shaped dose response curve for pramiracetam. This means that for each compound there is an optimum dose, and above or below this dosage, the effects are not as profound. The same is probably true for most of the smart drugs and nutrients discussed in this book. Furthermore, excessively high doses of some compounds may actually produce reverse effects (Heiby, 1989).

Kenneth and Lois Anderson write in their excellent book, Orphan Drugs, "An effective individual dosage is often established in the same way that one makes an individual adjustment in the amount of coffee or tea consumed during the day—by the trial‑and‑error technique sometimes called titration. Most people learn through experience to estimate the amount of coffee or tea they can consume without discomfort and adjust their daily caffeine beverage intake accordingly. The same process works for many medica­tions."

Subtle or even major improvements in cognitive function can sometimes go unnoticed. One way to measure changes in your own cognitive abilities is to ask your friends and family. Tell them you are experimenting with some new technologies and you would like them to watch you a little more closely. This will get you a more objective measure­ment than you could get on your own.

When using smart drugs and nutrients pay particular attention to changes in any of the following: alertness, mental energy, concentration, being able to concentrate for longer periods at a time, ability to memorize material, productivity, organization, planning ability, verbal memory, problem-solving ability, mood, sexual desire, overall health, and performance at intellectual games such as chess or computer games.

Synergy

In one fascinating study, a team of researchers led by Raymond Bartus (1981) administered the cognition enhancers choline and piracetam to a strain of aged lab rats noted for their age‑related memory decline. "Those subjects given only choline (100 mg/kg) did not differ on the behavioral task from control animals administered vehicle (placebo). Rats given piracetam (100 mg/kg) performed slightly better than control rats ... but rats given the piracetam/choline combination (100 mg/kg of each) exhibited retention scores several times better than those given piracetam alone. In a second study it was shown that twice the dose of pir­acetam (200 mg/kg) or choline (200 mg/kg) alone, still did not enhance retention nearly as well as when piracetam and choline (100 mg/kg of each) were administered together." This is synergy, a process commonly found in nature where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (Fuller, 1975).             

Rats placed in a box with a lighted chamber and dark chamber will normally prefer to go into the dark chamber. In this study these aged rats took less than 20 seconds to enter the dark chamber on the pre-training performance. Upon entry to the dark chamber the rats were subjected to mild foot shock. Twenty-four hours later the rats were returned to the box and tested for the length of time before they entered the dark chamber. Rats treated with either choline or piracetam took only slightly longer than controls to enter the dark chamber where they had previously received a shock, whereas rats treated with both choline and piracetam took nearly three times as long to enter the dark cham­ber. This indicates the rats' memory for the shock avoidance was greatly improved. (Redrawn from Bartus, 1981.)

One mouse model study found that combining two memory-increasing drugs allowed for a reduction in the optimal dose by 66.2% to as much as 95.7% (Flood, 1985). Another, similar, study conducted by the same team found 95% reduction in optimal dosages when two drugs were combined (Flood, 1983).

These studies and the ones we cite below were published by Flood and the late Arthur Cherkin. Cherkin, a prolific drug researcher, told us about an unpublished mouse experiment he conducted combining piracetam with Hydergine. His results indicated that the optimal dose of this combination could be 5 times less than the optimal dosage of each when used alone.

The good news here is that taking Hydergine and piracetam together may be far less expensive than taking either alone. However, you must still ascertain the optimum dose for yourself as per our previous instructions.

Taking Exams

If you are planning to use any of the smart drugs and nutrients we have discussed to assist you in taking tests or examinations, we suggest that you follow some rules.

Make certain that the substances you are using actually make you smarter. If possible, purchase a workbook for the test you intend to take. Take a sample test without the substances, then take another sample test with them. Do this several times to be certain that you do feel smarter, think more clearly, and do better on the test with your choice of smart drugs and nutrients.

Remember that more is not necessarily better. Use the information in the rest of this section to ascertain the optimum substance or combination of substances and their correct dosages.

Beware of potential problems. For example, you might choose to take Inderal one and a half hours before a test in order to avoid having a fear response during the testing. Although it is generally well tolerated, propranolol (Inderal) can cause nausea if taken on an empty stomach, especially with black coffee. Read the precautions we include for each drug.

The research we've seen suggests that coffee may have some intelligence-lowering effects. Unless you are truly addicted and require coffee for functioning, we recommend that coffee be avoided during intellectually demanding situations.

If you become familiar with the range of compounds available, you will be able to choose among them for different uses. A perfect example is vasopressin. One quick inhalation of vasopressin can clear your head and sharpen your recall in ten seconds. This can be invaluable for situations where you are required to be your sharpest on a moment's notice.

Other smart drugs, such as piracetam, will make learning new material much easier. Smart drugs are most useful if you experiment and find out which ones work for you.

References:

Anderson, K., Anderson, L. Orphan Drugs. Los Angeles, CA: The Body Press, 1987, p. 132.

Bartus, R.T., Dean R.L. 3d, Sherman, K.A., Friedman, E., Beer, B. "Profound Effects of Combining Choline and Piracetam on Memory Enhancement and Cholinergic Function in Aged Rats." Neurobiology of Aging. 1981, Vol. 2, pp. 105‑11.

Berga, P., Beckett, P.R., Roberts, D.J., Llenas, J., Massingham, R. "Synergistic Interactions Between Piracetam and Dihydroergocristine in Some Animal Models of Cerebral Hypoxia and Ischaemia." Arzneimittelforschung. 1986, 36 (9), pp. 1314‑20.

Ferris, S.H., et al. "Combination of Choline/Piracetam in the Treatment of Senile Dementia." Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 1982, Vol. 18, pp. 94‑98.

Flood, J.F., Smith, G.E., Cherkin, A. "Memory Retention: Potentiation of Cholinergic Drug Combinations in Mice." Neurobiology of Aging. 1983, 4 (1) pp. 37‑43.

Flood, J.F., Smith, G.E., Cherkin, A. "Memory Enhancement: Supra-Additive Effect of Subcutaneous Cholinergic Drug Combinations in Mice." Psycho­pharmacology. 1985, 86 (1‑2) pp. 61‑7.

Flood, J.F., Cherkin, A. "Effect of Acute Arecoline, Tacrine and Arecoline + Tacrine Post-Training Administration on Retention in Old Mice." Neurobiology of Aging. 1988, 9 (1) pp. 5‑8.

Flood, J.F., Smith, G.E., Cherkin, A. "Two-Drug Combinations of Memory En­hancers: Effect of Dose Ratio Upon Potency and Therapeutic Window, in Mice." Life Science. 1988, 42 (21) pp. 2145‑54.

Friedman, E., Sherman, K.A., Ferris, S.H., Reisberg, B., Bartus, R.T., Schneck, M.K. "Clinical Response to Choline Plus Piracetam in Senile Dementia: Relation to Red‑Cell Choline Levels." The New England Journal of Medicine. 1981, 304, No. 24, pp. 1490‑91.

Fuller, R.B. Synergetics. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1975.

Heiby, W. The Reverse Effect. Deerfield, IL: Mediscience

Pepeu, G., Spignoli, G., Giovannini, M.G., Magnani, M. "The Relationship Between the Behavioral Effects of Cognition-Enhancing Drugs and Brain Acetylcholine. Nootropic Drugs and Brain Acetylcholine." Pharmacopsychiatry. 1989, 22 Supple­ment 2, pp. 116‑9.