Comment · Mon, February 2, 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
SurfaceThought · 2 points
He didn't say Marijuana was part of a study regimen, rather that he uses it on the weekends to relax... As someone with a similar pattern of use, my understanding is that the NMDA effect would only have an affect learning outcomes while under the effect of the cannabis, and not during the week when it is not being used, correct?
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic
The NMDA effects from cannabis can be long lasting. That is why you see chronic MJ users having brain fog for a while. Examine has a very good article on Marijuana, and the long term effects it can have. Once or twice on the weekends might not lead to as many side effects, though. Usually it is daily use that causes the long term issues. Even so, if I was doing a dedicated study regimen, I would not go anywhere near MJ.