Comment · Fri, January 30, 2015 · Ceretropic
Discrepancy of study outcomes and anecdotal evidence - how much of nootropic effect is placebo?
Original post in this thread
Aretus · 20 points
This has bugged me for a while. I have experimented with a lot of different substances in my time - mostly recreative drugs, prescription medications and some - few - nootropics.
What I have found out by reading studies is that the actual scientific evidence for a profound impact of nootropics concerning cognitive enhancement. For the effects of many nootropics there is no valid scientific evidence anyway. But even in the cases where there is a good foundation of studies, the amplitude of the effects is extremely minor. In many cases very promising animal studies are followed up by extremely disappointing results in human testing. I'd like to illustrate what I mean using two nootropics with strong scientific evidence backing them up, piracetam and bacopa monnieri.
Piracetam has shown extremely promising results in animal testing using rats. There are some studies suggesting it has a memory-enhancing effect in healthy people, although the better and more intricately designed the studies are, the less pronounced these effects become, up to a point where many studies suggest that piracetam has no memory-enhancing effects in healthy people at all. On the other hand, its neuroprotecti…
What they were answering
Aretus · 1 points
Thanks for your thought-out answer. I'd like to comment on this particular sentence and give you some insight into my motivation:
>If you are measuring it, and you see increases in performance, who really cares if it is placebo or not? Improvement is improvement.
Of course you are right in that measurable improvement is desirable regardless of its origins (placebo or not). I find myself in a situation where I am faced with one of the most challenging academic examinations in my country and probably the world, with a lengthy preparation of ~18 months of constant studying preceding it. Everything during this prepration time must be streamlined and optimized, from sleeping schedules to learning techniques to diet to leisure and social contacts. I share the position of all of the users of this board which is probably best described as "chemical transhumanism", i.e. the improvement of performance via drugs. I have secured a limitless supply of amphetamine and alternate between its use as a stimulant and modafinil, caffeine and probably methylphenidate.
In addition to that, I am thinking of using GHB as a sleep aid at times (and a party aid at others to secure 2-4 hrs of good, excessive partying, phenomenal sex and perfect sleep without any hangover afterwards), I have considered a low-dose steroid regimen for overall well-being (although come to the conclusion that the risks outwe…
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic
You sounded like Jordan Belfort from Wolf of Wall Street there for a second! Amphetamine to wake me up, GHB to calm me down, LSD to reset the brain... Haha. Just be careful with what you are trying to do. 18 months of constant use of those substances is going to alter your brain in many different ways.
As far as nootropics are concerned, I would say you could get a lot better results than your current plan. Marijuana has no place in a study regimen. The NMDA effects are completely anti-nootropic. The same could be said of Xanax. I would use Selank instead, along with something like ashwagandha. Keep the Xanax for acute panic attacks, but only as a last resort. Also, there is no way I would regularly use amphetamine without some protection. A good magnesium is a must, but honestly I would probably keep a memantine regimen going while using it. Tolerance and excitotoxicity is never a good thing. There are a lot of other things I would alter personally as well.