9,812 reads

An Evidence-Based Guide to Nootropics and Cognitive Enhancement [Comic]

by Adrian H. RaudaschlNovember 29th, 2019

Too Long; Didn't Read

Physician turned product manager writing about all things medicine, business and technology. He decided to do the responsible thing and write a comic to preach myself. The following is intended as informative satire. Claims made are referenced at the bottom of the page. Always do your own research. YouTuber will. The comic is based on the work of Dr. Michael Repantis, a medical product manager, and the work he has done on cognitive enhancement. He is also the author of a book called Hacking the Brain: Dimensions of Cognitive Enhancement.

Company Mentioned

featured image - An Evidence-Based Guide to Nootropics and Cognitive Enhancement [Comic]

After years of listening to people preach misinformed rubbish about nootropics and cognitive enhancement, I decided to do the responsible thing and write a comic to preach myself.

The following is intended as informative satire. Claims made are referenced at the bottom. Always do your own research.

If you don’t talk to your children or colleagues about cognitive enhancement, a YouTuber will.

Bibliography and heavily inspired by

Dresler, M., Sandberg, A., Bublitz, C., Ohla, K., Trenado, C., Mroczko-Wąsowicz, A., … Repantis, D. (2019). . ACS chemical neuroscience, 10(3), 1137–1148. doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00571

References

Methylphenidate. (2019, November 17). Retrieved from
Ilieva I.; Boland J.; Farah M. J. (2013) Objective and subjective cognitive enhancing effects of mixed amphetamine salts in healthy people. Neuropharmacology 64, 496–50510.1016/j.neuropharm.2012.07.021.
Finke K.; Dodds C. M.; Bublak P.; Regenthal R.; Baumann F.; Manly T.; Müller U. (2010) Effects of modafinil and methylphenidate on visual attention capacity: a TVA-based study. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 210, 317–2910.1007/s00213–010–1823-x.
Chou H. H.; Talledo J. A.; Lamb S. N.; Thompson W. K.; Swerdlow N. R. (2013) Amphetamine effects on MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery performance in healthy adults. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 227, 165–7610.1007/s00213–012–2948-x.
Finke K.; Dodds C. M.; Bublak P.; Regenthal R.; Baumann F.; Manly T.; Müller U. (2010) Effects of modafinil and methylphenidate on visual attention capacity: a TVA-based study. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 210, 317–2910.1007/s00213–010–1823-x.
Knott V.; de la Salle S.; Choueiry J.; Impey D.; Smith D.; Smith M.; Beaudry E.; Saghir S.; Ilivitsky V.; Labelle A. (2015) Neurocognitive effects of acute choline supplementation in low, medium and high performer healthy volunteers. Pharmacol., Biochem. Behav. 131, 119–2910.1016/j.pbb.2015.02.004.
Adan A.; Serra-Grabulosa J. M. (2010) Effects of caffeine and glucose, alone and combined, on cognitive performance. Hum. Psychopharmacol. 25, 310–710.1002/hup.1115.
Gomez-Pinilla F.; Zhuang Y.; Feng J.; Ying Z.; Fan G. (2011) Exercise impacts brain-derived neurotrophic factor plasticity by engaging mechanisms of epigenetic regulation. Eur. J. Neurosci 33, 383–39010.1111/j.1460–9568.2010.07508.x.
Smith A. M.; Spiegler K. M.; Sauce B.; Wass C. D.; Sturzoiu T.; Matzel L. D. (2013) Voluntary aerobic exercise increases the cognitive enhancing effects of working memory training. Behav. Brain Res. 256, 626–3510.1016/j.bbr.2013.09.012.
Antonenko D.; Diekelmann S.; Olsen C.; Born J.; Mölle M. (2013) Napping to renew learning capacity: enhanced encoding after stimulation of sleep slow oscillations. Eur. J. Neurosci 37, 1142–115110.1111/ejn.12118.
Feld G. B.; Diekelmann S. (2015) Sleep smart-optimizing sleep for declarative learning and memory. Front Psychol 6, 622.10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00622.
Schlaug G.; Norton A.; Overy K.; Winner E. (2005) Effects of music training on the child’s brain and cognitive development. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1060, 219–3010.1196/annals.1360.015.
Bialystok E.; Craik F. I.; Luk G. (2012) Bilingualism: consequences for mind and brain. Trends Cognit. Sci. 16, 240–5010.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001.
Seinfeld S.; Figueroa H.; Ortiz-Gil J.; Sanchez-Vives M. V. (2013) Effects of music learning and piano practice on cognitive function, mood and quality of life in older adults. Front. Psychol. 4, 810.10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00810.
Hills T.; Hertwig R. (2011) Why aren’t we smarter already: Evolutionary trade-offs and cognitive enhancements. Current Directions in Psychological Science 20, 373–37710.1177/0963721411418300.
Chiesa A.; Calati R.; Serretti A. (2011) Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? A systematic review of neuropsychological findings. Clin Psychol Rev. 31, 449–6410.1016/j.cpr.2010.11.003.
Sedlmeier P.; Eberth J.; Schwarz M.; Zimmermann D.; Haarig F.; Jaeger S.; Kunze S. (2012) The psychological effects of meditation: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull. 138, 1139–7110.1037/a0028168.