Our brains are incredible. Made up of around 100 billion neurons, this remarkable organ is capable of coordinating the activity of around 1 trillion (that’s 1,000,000,000,000) cells. To achieve this amazing feat, our neurons are interconnected so that they can communicate with one another. The connection points are known as synapses (see below). With each neuron connecting with roughly 10,000 other neurons, the average adult brain may contain up to 500 trillion synapses. This means that every cubic millimeter of cerebral cortex contains roughly a billion synapses!(1) These figures are quite simply mind blowing and it’s no surprise to learn that we certainly do not yet know all that there is to know about the human brain.

Our neurons work via electrical impulses that fire along the neuronal pathways in the brain. When one neuron wants to pass on an impulse to another neuron it has to cross a synapse which, as we mentioned above, is the point at which one neuron connects to another. A synapse can either be electrical or chemical. The vast majority of synapses in the brain are chemical ones. And although chemical synapses are slower than electrical ones, what they lose in speed, they gain in flexibility. This flexibility is crucial when it comes to learning.

Unlike in electrical synapses where neurons actually need to touch each other for impulses to be passed on, in chemical synapses neurons are separated by minute spaces known as synaptic gaps. In order to enable a nerve impulse to cross a synaptic gap, special chemicals known as neurotransmitters are released from the transmitting neuron. The neurotransmitters effectively carry the electrical nerve impulse over the synaptic gap and onto the next neuron.

There are many different neurotransmitters and they each have a number of different roles to play - for example the neurotransmitter dopamine performs a number of important functions in the brain, including crucial roles in behaviour and cognition, motor activity, motivation and reward.

In order to enable the system to function properly, each neurotransmitter has a molecular form that allows it to bind to a specific receptor site on the receiving neuron to produce a particular effect. It’s a bit like a lock and key system - only the right neurotransmitter can bind to a particular receptor site.

Neurotransmitters themselves are divided into two categories. Those neurotransmitters that cause the next neuron to fire and send on an impulse are known as excitatory neurotransmitters. Those that reduce the likelihood of a neuron passing on an impulse are inhibitory ones. To keep these neuronal pathways moving, all impulses travel along neurons in the same direction.

However, the neuronal pathways are not set in stone. Our brains are malleable and go through significant changes during our lives. One way in which our brain learns is to alter the strength of connections between neurons - adding or deleting neuronal connections as necessary. You only have to think of a baby’s brain. Research has clearly shown that a baby’s brain actually contains more brain cells, or neurons, than an adult brain. From the moment that we are born, our neurons start a "pruning process," which involves the elimination of seemingly unnecessary neural connections. It’s vitally important that a newborn’s brain is so malleable and packed with neurons as it allows babies to assimilate vast amounts of information with ease.

Given the malleability of our brains, what we do with our brains and what we expose them to has a significant effect on their well being. This brings us firmly round to the nature versus nurture argument and whilst this argument still continues to rage, a body of scientists now believe that whilst 50% of our intelligence is inherited, the other 50% is determined by environmental factors, proper nutrition and exercise. So what we do, what we eat and the lives we lead can all have a major impact on our cognitive abilities and the overall health of our brains. We’re all well aware that eating well and taking exercise can maintain our physical health and help us live longer, but what we all need to take on board is that maintaining our mental health is just as important.

One thing is for certain, the fast paced 24/7 life that we tend to lead these days can have a huge impact on our both our mental and physical health leaving us both physically and mentally exhausted and unable to perform at our best. And leading such lives can place us under considerable amounts of stress. In the short term, stress can play havoc with your cognitive ability. Just think about the exam situation. You’re under stress and, despite having learnt all you need to know, as soon as you turn the exam paper over, your mind goes completely blank and you can’t remember a thing.

And being exposed to stress on a long term basis is detrimental to all aspects of our health. Stress causes our bodies to release increased levels of the hormone cortisol, and prolonged exposure to high levels of cortisol is not good for either our physical or mental health. As far as our cognitive function is concerned, cortisol is known to impair memory and damage brain memory cells.

Age too plays its part. Not only does age slow us down physically, but it also affects us mentally. We’re all familiar with the mental illnesses associated with age such as senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease that gradually damage and destroy the delicate structures of the brain. But age can also catch us in out in other ways. We probably all come to realize that as we grow older that we’re just not as mentally sharp as we once were. After all, how often do you find yourself looking for the car keys because you simply can’t remember where you last put them or you find yourself desperately trying to recall someone’s name after you’ve been introduced to them. In fact, it’s so familiar to us that this age related diminution in our mental faculties is the butt of jokes - people even quip that they’re having “a grey haired moment”.

But just because the way we live our lives, the stress that we put ourselves under and the inevitability of old age all affect our mental agility, making us mentally tired and just not as sharp as we should be, it doesn’t mean that the situation is one that we should simply accept. For a long time now people have used stimulants to give them a mental pick me up - from simple things like a cup of coffee to give you a shot of caffeine through to stimulant medications. And while caffeine, guarana and other stimulants may be successful in warding off tiredness or giving an instant lift when needed, their boost to the brain, by firing the entire nervous system is unfortunately short-lived.

In recent years, however, there has been a growth in interest in a new category of cognitive enhancers known as nootropics or smart drugs. Primarily designed for the treatment of a number of devastating illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, narcolepsy and Parkinson’s disease, nootropics have increasingly found their way into use by the general population. And it’s easy to see why - nootropics are able to offer powerful targeted, sustained mental sharpening without the toxic effects so often associated with other forms of stimulant.

So just what are nootropics?

Nootropics are a class of drugs, supplements and nutraceuticals that have a positive effect on cognitive function. They act to improve and enhance such things as memory, cognition, concentration, attention, intelligence, motivation and mental alertness. By definition, therefore, nootropics are cognitive enhancers but not all cognitive enhancers are necessarily nootropics. That’s because nootropics offer more than just cognitive enhancement - they are also neuroprotective or as well as being extremely non-toxic, which means that they can be taken without the risk of noxious side effects. They also provide sustained benefits in improving mental acuity whereas other more traditional stimulants such as amphetamines only provide you with a temporary boost.

The actual word nootropic was coined by Romanian Dr Corneliu E Giurgea in 1972. The word nootropic itself is derived from the Greek words ”noos”, or ”mind”, and ”tropein”, which means to bend or turn. Dr Giurgea defined nootropic drugs as having a number of specific characteristics including:

1. They should enhance memory and learning


2. They should enhance the resistance of learned behaviors/memories to conditions which tend to disrupt them


3. They should be neuroprotective and protect the brain against various chemical and physical injuries


4. They should lack the usual pharmacology of other psychotropic drugs such as sedation, possess very few side effects and have extremely low toxicity

As you will see from the products listed below, different nootropics affect different aspects of mental function. The different nootropics also have different actions. They work by:

• Improving the brain’s oxygen supply, or


• Altering the availability of the brain’s supply of neurochemicals such as neurotransmitters and hormones, or


• Stimulating nerve growth

But whatever mechanism they use to achieve their effect, they are all extremely low when it comes to toxicity and side effects are almost unheard of.

Below we look in a little more detail at a number of nootropic products (in alphabetical order) that are currently available through International Anti-aging Systems.

Adrafinil

Adrafinil /Olmifon® belongs to a new class of drugs called “eugeroics” which literally means “good arousal”. Approved in many countries for the treatment of narcolepsy, adrafinil/Olmifon® offers increased alertness and energy levels, reduces fatigue, promotes vigilance, enhances memory and concentration as well as sharpening mental focus without the anxiety, agitation and disrupted sleep patterns so often associated with other more traditional stimulants. Blood pressure and heart rate are also unaffected by it.

The affects of adrafinil/Olmifon build up subtly over a period of days to months rather than providing a short term boost to cognitive function. Unlike many other stimulants that have a broad range of activity in the brain, adrafinil/Olmifon selectively stimulates adrenergic neurotransmitter receptors in the brain. These receptors normally respond to the neurotransmitter norepinephrine (noradrenaline) which is directly associated with memory, alertness and learning.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC)

Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) is a naturally occurring amino acid that has been proven to treat age related mental decline. The effects of ALC include a lessening of any depression, enhancement of both cognitive and motor ability, and improvements in short term memory and attention to detail.

ALC works by restoring blood pressure, inhibiting oxygen starvation and increasing levels of blood oxygen. ALC also improves the condition of mitochondria - minute organelles that are found inside every cell that act as the powerhouses for the production of the energy that all living cells need. ALC has also been shown to help remove lipofuscin - a brownish pigment left over from the breakdown and absorption of damaged blood cells that is sometimes called the aging pigment.

Not only is ALC used in conjunction with other nootropics to treat senile dementia, it may also be beneficial for those affected by stroke, Down’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease and various neuropathies.

In keeping with the condition that a nootropic should have very low toxicity, only rarely has ALC been reported to cause any side effects. If it does then it is likely to cause headaches and nausea both of which will pass with continued use or lower doses.

Anacervix®

Anacervix contains a powerful combination of two active ingredients - vincamine and piracetam (in the proportions 20mg vincamine and 400mg piracetam per tablet). The effect of this potent formula is to “wake up” the brain and stimulate brain activity, aid concentration and help focus thinking.

Each of the two key active ingredients have their own role to play and by working synergistically together in this amazing product, Anacervix® provides the full benefit from both:

• Vincamine

Vincamine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the leaves of the vinca minor plant, has been used as a nootropic agent for many years. It acts as a peripheral vasodilator, that is to say it causes the blood vessels to widen which increases blood flow. In the case of vincamine the vasodilation effects are area specific affecting only the area within the cranial cavity (the space inside the skull). The result is that blood flow to the brain is increased which in turn improves circulation and nutrition to the brain.

Vincamine and some of its derivatives such as vinpocetine also have a specific activating effect on a part of the brain stem known as the locus coeruleus. The locus coeruleus is involved with physiological responses to panic and stress, acting as the principal site for the production of norepinephrine. It is made up of mostly medium-size neurons that extend throughout the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain responsible for thinking and planning. Unfortunately, as we age the number of locus coeruleus neurons declines and those that remain are less active. Not surprisingly this plays a significant role in the reduction of our powers of concentration, alertness, and our speed and ability to process information. Vincamine activates the remaining locus coeruleus neurons to such an extent that it can help to offset this age-related decline. In other words vincamine can help to restore our powers of concentration, alertness and information processing.

• Piracetam

For details see Piracetam section below.

Aniracetam

Aniracetam is a member of racetam family of nootropics. With its ability to enhance communication within the brain, Aniracetam is one of the most potent nootropic agents currently available.

Aniracetam is an analogue of piracetam i.e. it structurally resembles piracetam although less Aniracetam is required to be effective. Compared with piracetam, aniracetam is more potent when it comes to enhancing focusing and concentration. Like piracetam, aniracetam increases communication between the brain’s two hemispheres and also has positive effects on the acetylcholine system.

But what perhaps really makes aniracetam stand out is the fact that not only is it beneficial for mental functioning but that it also has a positive effect on the body as a whole. It appears to generate an overall sense of well being, particularly in the elderly, as well as enhancing immune function.

Centrophenoxine

Centrophenoxine is one of the original cognitive enhancers. Its use has been well documented over a number of decades. Found naturally in food, especially in fish, centrophenoxine is a compound of two biochemicals - diethylaminoethanol (DMAE) and parachlorophenoxyacetate (pCPA).

Centrophenoxine works by effectively cleaning out the cells in both your body and brain which in turn improves function and longevity - making centrophenoxine a perfect candidate for an anti-aging drug as well. Centrophenoxine achieves this cleansing function by being extremely effective at removing lipofuscin. Lipofuscin is sometimes referred to as the aging pigment - the brownish granular potassium build up that occurs as a result of the breakdown of blood cells. Lipofuscin does not just affect the brain - it can also be found in the heart, lungs and skin. The problem is that lipofuscin accumulates over a lifetime - in fact it can represent up to 30% of a cellular volume in affected aged cells. And the more lipofuscin there is, the less functional the cell becomes. If a cell reaches a critical threshold, it may die. Therefore, by removing lipofuscin, cellular health can be restored - and in the brain this means that memory and learning abilities can be returned to that of a much younger person.

Centrophenoxine also improves overall brain function, particularly long term memory formation and enhancement of vigilance and alertness. Centrophenoxine achieves this in two ways:

• By enhancing neuronal glucose (the main form of fuel in the brain) and oxygen uptake
• By raising neuronal RNA (ribonucleic acid) levels - RNA is central to protein synthesis but levels drop as we age. By increasing RNA levels this age related drop is reversed. Neurons are able to form new proteins and repair cell damage as well as encode memory.

Desmopressin

Desmopressin is a synthetic version of vasopressin, a hormone that occurs naturally in the human brain. The primary role of vasopressin is to regulate the body’s retention of water. This has a direct effect on salt levels. When you are dehydrated, vasopressin is released which causes the kidneys to conserve water. Vasopressin also raises blood pressure by narrowing the blood vessels. In this way it also aids temperature control, causing capillaries near the skin’s surface to constrict when you are cold in order to conserve heat.

But it is vasopressin’s neurological effects that are of most interest here and in particular its role in the formation of memories. Memories are stored in an area of the brain known as the hippocampus. Vasopressin appears to be able to aid the memory by helping to “insert” (imprint) memories into the hippocampus. By being directly associated with the formation of new memories, and by then aiding the insertion of those memories into the hippocampus, vasopressin in the form of desmopressin can in effect help you to remember the future. In other words, if you take desmopressin before something has happened, the memory of that event will be firmly imprinted into your memory which, of course, means that when you come to recall it at a later date your recollection will be that much clearer. It can, therefore, be really useful to take desmopressin if you are trying to learn lots of new information. Not only will you be able to memorize things more easily but your recall of them will be that much greater.

Hydergine

Hydergine was developed back in the 1940s as a drug to help treat Alzheimer’s and dementia. It is now one of the most tested pharmaceutical products ever produced and has become one of the most popular nootropics available. It is commonly used to help treat not only senile dementia but also the age related mental decline that so many of us accept as an inevitable part of growing older. It belongs to a family of drugs known as ergoloid mesylate and has been proven to have a number of anti-aging and brain enhancing benefits including:

• Increasing blood supply and oxygen to the brain (thereby protecting the brain from insufficient oxygen supply)
• Preventing free radical damage
• Slowing down the deposit of lipofuscin
• Enhancing neuron metabolism

Overall, hydergine is capable of increased intelligence, memory, learning and recall. It may even be able to aid in the reversal of damage to brain cells.

Hydergine works by stimulating oxygen flow to the brain. Oxygen levels in brain have to be finely balanced - too much or too little can trigger the formation of rogue molecules known as free radicals. These molecules are highly unstable and can set off a chain of reactions that can ultimately cause cellular damage. Many of the problems associated with aging are due in part at least to a buildup of free radical damage. Antioxidants are capable of quenching free radicals halting these highly destructive molecules in their tracks. By helping to stabilize oxygen levels in the brain hydergine acts as a potent antioxidant.

Hydergine also mimics the effect of nerve growth factor - a substance found in the brain that stimulates dendrite nerve fibers. Dendrites exist at the receiving ends of neurons. They are tiny tree like nerve fibers that form synaptic contacts with other neurons. One hypothesis is that there is a direct correlation between the number of dendrites and your level of intelligence. Unfortunately, dendrites usually decline with age.

Piracetam

As discussed already, Piracetam belongs to the racetams class of nootropic drugs. It was one of the first nootropic drugs and as such has been extensively researched. It has far ranging positive effects on the brain including increasing oxygen and blood flow to the brain, slowing down the aging of the brain and enhancing memory and cognition without any sedative or stimulant effects. As such it is used to treat a wide range of conditions and diseases including improving cognitive function in those suffering from Alzheimer’s, dementia and schizophrenia, aiding stroke recovery and reducing the effects of dyslexia.

Exactly how piracetam achieves all of this is not clearly understood although it is thought that it may act on the ion channels that regulate the flow of ions such as sodium, calcium and potassium across cell membranes. These ions are all essential to life.

Piracetam also appears to increase communication between the two hemispheres of the brain by increasing the activity of the corpus callosum (the structure in the brain that facilitates such communication). This cross-brain communication links the logical side of the brain with the creative side of the brain, thereby increasing mental potential which manifests itself in more creative thought and a greater ability to form new ideas. Piracetam is also known to be a specific activator of metabolism within the brain’s cerebral cortex. In addition, piracetam improves the function of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine - one of the neurotransmitters closely associated with memory.

Studies have also demonstrated that piracetam is very successful in improving the cognitive performance in healthy people too and is becoming increasingly popular amongst students because of its ability to enhance both verbal learning skills and memory. Piracetam may also be a very useful tool in the fight against aging because of its effects on reducing levels of lipofuscin. Sometimes known as the aging pigment, it is found in both heart muscle and smooth muscles (for more detail see above under centrophenoxine).

Piracetam is virtually non-toxic, with very few side effects and contraindications.
Buy Piracetam online.

Pramiracetam

As with aniracetam, Pramiracetam is also an analogue of piracetam and just like aniracetam it is more potent than piracetam. In fact, it is up to 7 times more potent than piracetam making it possibly the most potent nootropic currently available.

As with other racetams, pramiracetam boosts your mental ability. It is particularly effective in enhancing both learning capacity and improving memory. It also has a mild anti-depressant effect so is capable of lifting your mood.

With its potency being so great, it is a useful treatment for those suffering from age-related mild to moderate mental decline. It has been proven to improve their attention span, memory, learning capacity and overall cognitive capacity.

As a nootropic, pramiracetam appears to work by boosting the brain’s metabolism, enhancing protein production and increasing energy levels. As with other racetams, Pramiracetam also increases the amount of communication between the brain’s two hemispheres via the corpus callosum. They increase levels of communication across the corpus callosum, the nerves that separate the two hemispheres of the brain.

Pyritinol

Pyritinol is possibly the oldest nootropic drug still in use having first been patented back in 1961. Although the subject of much research and widely used throughout Europe, pyritinol does not feature in the US market.

With its wide range of actions, pyritinol has been successfully used clinically to treat an impressive array of disorders including various forms of dementia, cerebral circulatory disorders, alcoholism, behaviour and intellect problems in children, dyslexia and aiding recovery following a stroke.

The reason that pyritinol is able to offer such a wide range of therapeutic benefits appears to lie in the way in which it works on a number of different fronts. Pyritinol acts in the following ways:

• A powerful antioxidant - in particular it is very effective against the most dangerous free radical known as the hydroxyl radical. Pyritinol appears to be capable of protecting brain proteins from hydroxyl damage. This gives Pyritinol neuroprotective benefits


• To increase brain cell energy and enhance glucose transport - pyritinol is able to enhance or normalize glucose transport through the blood-brain barrier and to increase brain cell energy production from glucose. This is crucial because under normal conditions brain cells, unlike other cells, can only “burn” glucose as fuel. Although the brain is usually less than 2% of total body weight, it needs to produce and use about 20% of the body's total energy production. What’s more brain cells cannot store any significant amounts of glucose so they are completely dependent upon a continuous supply of glucose from your blood. Low glucose supplies translate into low brain energy metabolism. And brain energy metabolism is so important to optimal, healthy brain function e.g. studies have shown that in a variety of dementias this metabolism is impaired with the degree of impairment correlating to the severity of the dementia


• To increase vigilance

With its wide range of actions, pyritinol may therefore be useful not only to treat various conditions but may also be a useful anti-brain aging nootropic drug and as an aid to increase focus and concentration, memory, alertness and information processing in both young and old, normal or mildly brain dysfunctional persons.

Vinpocetine

Vinpocetine is a derivative of vincamine (see above under Anacervix). It acts as a powerful memory enhancer. It also improves alertness, concentration and information processing. Vincamine achieves its nootropic benefits through a range of actions. Like vincamine it has a specific activating effect on the locus coeruleus (see above under Anacervix-vincamine). It also facilitates cerebral metabolism by improving cerebral blood flow, increasing the brain’s utilization of glucose and oxygen and increasing the cellular production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP is the cellular energy molecule that stores the energy we need to do just about everything that we do. It is present in every cell.

Conclusion

As can be seen from the above; nootropic drugs and nutrients offer a wide range of anti-aging, cognition enhancing treatments with extremely low toxicity.

References

1. Alonso-Nanclares L, Gonzalez-Soriano J, Rodriguez JR, DeFelipe J. (2008). Gender differences in human cortical synaptic density. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 105(38):14615-9.