Research on Various Nootropics

[muscleupcrohn]

I really like this new Nootropics section, and since there aren't really many threads here, I figured I'll start one up. I'm thinking I'll post up various nootropic supplements, along with what they do, how to dose them, and the research that supports their usage. It can serve as a good reference for people who are new to nootropics, or are just looking to maybe try another nootropic supplement. If anyone else has any good information on nootropics I don't mention ITT (and I certainly can't mention/discuss them all), feel free to add them here. My initial posts may be messy at first, but I'll clean up the links and stuff once I have some studies up. I also list supplements that can help with stress and anxiety. Although these supplements may not be nootropic per se, they can still have great benefits for the same group of people who are interested in nootropic supplements). (note: no, these are not all just pulled from examine.com).

-I'll go back and provide brief keywords/uses/benefits for each supplement before mentioning the studies to make everything simpler/easier to read at some point, that way people can look at the name of a supplement, see what benefits it can provide, and then only read the studies/detailed info if the uses/benefits of said supplement interest them.

Caffeine and Theanine

Given to undergraduate volunteers (18-34 years old), 150mg of caffeine in isolation improved reaction time, perceptions of fatigue, and rapid visual information processing. The addition of 250mg of L-theanine was able to preserve the above benefits of caffeine and improve alertness and further improve reaction time while reducing the ratings of headaches which were increased with caffeine in isolation.
SOURCE: The effects of L-theanine, caffeine and their combination on cognition and mood. - PubMed - NCBI

Given to healthy adults (mean age 28.3 years), 50mg of caffeine improved subjective alertness and accuracy on an attention-switching task. A combination of 50mg of caffeine and 100mg of l-theanine was able to improve accuracy and speed on an attention-switching task as well as reduce susceptibility to distracting information in a memory task.
SOURCE: The combined effects of L-theanine and caffeine on cognitive performance and mood. - PubMed - NCBI

A combination of 40mg caffeine and 97mg l-theanine given to university students (mean age 21.2 years) was able to significantly improve accuracy during task switching, reduce self-reported tiredness, and improve self-reported alertness.
The combination of L-theanine and caffeine improves cognitive performance and increases subjective alertness. - PubMed - NCBI

Caffeine (without theanine)

6mg/kg caffeine (408mg for a 150lb person) given to moderately trained male athletes (mean age 21.6 years) before a simulated-team sport exercise was able to improve total time on a reactive agility test by 2.3%, improve agility time by 3.9%, improve movement time by 2.7%, and improve decision time by 9.3% relative to placebo.
Effect of caffeine on reactive agility time when fresh and fatigued. - PubMed - NCBI

300mg caffeine given to healthy, military reservists (mean age 28 years) prior to a shooting session (low temperature of 26.6 Fahrenheit/-3 Celsius) weather was able to significantly reduce tiredness and cold discomfort compared to placebo.
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200mg caffeine given to prior to simulated sentry duty was able to reduce errors in discriminating between friend and foe, and abolished the reduction in speed of target detection with time during the sessions without negatively impacting marksmanship.
https://www.ntis.gov/Search/Home/titleDetail/?abbr=ADA387188

200-300mg caffeine given to NAVY SEAL trainees after 72 hours of sleep deprivation was able to significantly improve reaction time, visual vigilance, repeated acquisition, and measures of mood and alertness relative to placebo without having a negative influence on marksmanship.
The Use of Caffeine to Enhance Cognitive Performance, Reaction Time, Vigilance, Rifle Marksmanship and Mood States in Sleep-Deprived Navy SEAL (BUD/S) Trainees.

200-300mg caffeine given to NAVEY SEAL trainees during Navy SEAL Hell Week was able to significantly improve sighting time relative to placebo without negatively affecting accuracy.
Caffeine effects on marksmanship during high-stress military training with 72 hour sleep deprivation. - PubMed - NCBI

Theanine (without caffeine)

200mg l-theanine given to undergraduate students (age 20-25) was able to lessen the increase in anxiety, stress, and heart rate that resulted from a mental arithmetic task.
L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological stress responses. - PubMed - NCBI

200mg l-theanine given to University Students (age 18-20 years) with high anxiety was able to increase visual attentional performance, improve reaction time (reaction time decreased-improved- in subjects taking l-theanine after 15, 30, and 60 minutes, with a maximum improvement of over 15% while reaction time actually increased-worsened- in subjects who received placebo after 15 and 30 minutes, with a maximum worsening of over 5%) and reduce heart rate during visual attention and audio response tests. In the same study, subjects with low anxiety who received l-theanine also noted decreases-improvements- in reaction time at 15, 30, and 60 minutes, with a maximum improvement of over 5%, while low-anxiety subjects who received placebo actually noted increased-worsened- reaction times at 15, 30, and 60 minutes, with a maximum worsening of about 5%.

Rhodiola Rosea

170mg of Rhodiola Rosea (containing approximately 4.5mg salidroside) given to healthy physicians (age 24-35) during night duty for 2 weeks was able to significantly reduce fatigue and improved performance (as assessed by the fatigue index) by approximately 20%.
SOURCE: http://www.curador.net/index_fr/rosea/Darbinyan.pdf

50mg of Rhodiola Rosea (containing approximately 1.4mg salidroside) taken twice daily given to male students (age 17-19) during an examination period at a Medical Academy for 20 days was able to improve psychomotoric function by 75% more than placebo, and, in a neuro-motoric maze test designed to measure accuracy vs speed, the Rhodiola supplementing group made a 50% improvement compared to the placebo. Additionally, a follow-up study (of the exams taken just after the end of the main study) found that the average exam score was 8.43% higher in the Rhodiola supplementing group compared to the placebo group.
SOURCE: http://www.curador.net/indexnl/rosea/Spasov.SHR-5.students.2000.pdf

370 or 555mg of Rhodiola Rosea (containing 9.0 and 13.5mg salidroside) given to military cadets (age 19-21) for 5 days showed pronounced anti-fatigue effects and was able to improve the perception of general wellbeing. There does not appear to be a significant difference in the effectiveness of the two doses used in this study.
SOURCE: http://www.curador.net/indexfr/rosea/Shevtsov.SHR-5.2003.pdf
144mg of Rhodiola Rosea (containing approximately 3.3mg salidroside) given to students attending the Honors College of a University (mean age 23.3 years) for 1 week was able to significantly reduce experienced level of fatigue by 39%, compared to 4% with placebo, and reduce experienced stress by 19%, compared to 10% with placebo.
SOURCE: The influence of adaptogens on ultraweak biophoton emission: a pilot-experiment. - PubMed - NCBI

170mg of Rhodiola Rosea (containing 30mg salidroside) given twice daily to adults aged 18-64 years (mean age 44 years) with general anxiety disorder for 10 weeks was able to significantly improve general anxiety disorder symptoms and also reduce Hamilton Anxiety Rating scale scores (indicative of less anxiety).

Ashwagandha

300mg of Ashwagandha (containing 4.5mg withanolides) taken twice daily for 12 weeks by people with moderate to severe anxiety (for longer than 6 weeks) as part of naturopathic treatment, was able to significantly reduce anxiety (as measured by the Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI]) compared to standardized psychotherapy intervention. The BAI scores (higher scores are associated with greater anxiety) in the ashwagandha supplementing group decreased by 56.5% compared to only 30.5% in the group not supplementing with ashwagandha. The ashwagandha supplementing group also noticed greater improvements in mental health, concentration, fatigue, social functioning, vitality, and overall quality of life compared to the group not supplementing with ashwagandha.
SOURCE: Naturopathic Care for Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial ISRCTN78958974

300mg of Ashwagandha (containing 15mg withanolides) taken twice daily for 60 days by people (age 18-54) with chronic stress was able to significantly reduce stress and serum cortisol levels relative to the placebo group. Specifically, the ashwagandha supplementing group saw a 44% decrease in Perceived Stress Scale compared to a 5.5% decrease in the placebo group, a 72.3% decrease in General Health Questionnaire Scores compared to a 2.3% decrease in the placebo group, a 39.3% decrease in the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale compared to a 2.8% decrease in the placebo group, and a 27.9% decrease in salivary cortisol levels compared to a 7.9% decrease in the placebo group (note: greater decreases are better).
A Prospective, Randomized Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Safety and Efficacy of a High-Concentration Full-Spectrum Extract of Ashwagandha Root in Reducing Stress and Anxiety in Adults

500mg ashwagandha root extract daily for 8 weeks given to healthy young adults was able to increase VO2 max by 6.9% compared to an increase of 0.2% with placebo, increase average absolute power by 8.8% compared to 1.2% with placebo, increase average relative power by 12%, compared to 0.6% with placebo, an increase balance by 10.7%, compared to no change with placebo.
SOURCE: Effects of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) and Terminalia arjuna (Arjuna) on physical performance and cardiorespiratory endurance in healthy young adults

1000mg ashwagandha root extract daily for 8 weeks given to elite Indian cyclists was able to increase time to exhaustion by 7.2%, compared to an increase of 0.1% with placebo, and increase VO2 max by 12.6% compared to a decrease of 0.4% with placebo.
SOURCE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3545242/>

An average of 1000mg ashwagandha root extract daily for 30 days in healthy volunteers was able to increase lean body mass by 4lbs, decrease body fat by 2.27%, and increase quadriceps force by 21.5%.
SOURCE: Exploratory study to evaluate tolerability, safety, and activity of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) in healthy volunteers

500mg ashwagandha extract (containin 50mg withanolides) taken twice daily for 2 weeks in healthy volunteers (age 20-35 years) was able to significantly reduce reaction time relative to placebo. Specifically, the study noted a reduction in mean simple reaction test time by 6%, mean digit symbol substitution test time by 7%, and mean digit vigilance test time by 3% relative to placebo.

Bacopa

300mg bacopa monneiri (55% bacosides) given to adults (mean age 41.6 years) for 90 days was able to improve special working memory accuracy by 5.9%, compared to 2.4% with placebo, and improve working memory CDR factor scores by 3%, compared to 0.6% with placebo.
Examining the nootropic effects of a special extract of Bacopa monniera on human cognitive functioning: 90 day double-blind placebo-controlled rand... - PubMed - NCBI

300-450mg bacopa monnieri (55% bacosides) given to healthy adults (age 40-65 years) for 12 weeks was able to increase the number of pairs of words remembered after a delay by 1.44 pairs (164% increase), compared to 0.82 pairs (139% increase) with placebo.
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v27/n2/pdf/1395862a.pdf
300mg bacopa monnieri (55% bacosides) given to healthy adults (age 18-60 years) for 12 weeks was able to improve speed of visual information processing, learning rate, and memory consolidation, as well as reduce anxiety relative to placebo.

Acute BM supplementation (320 or 640mg, 55% bacosides) produced some adaptogenic and nootropic effects (healthy individuals, age 18-44 years)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23788517
but apparently 300mg (55% bacosides) didn't have any acute effects on cognitive functioning in healthy people (age 18-60 years).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12404571
I'm not sure if the additional 20mg made a difference, or if there's some other reason. Either way, the research is pretty convincing that bacopa will work after weeks of consistent use, and may have acute effects at 320mg (55% bacosides), so if you're looking for acute effects from your bacopa, you may want to take your daily dose as a single serving as opposed to split servings.

ALCAR

2g ALCAR daily given to persons with chronic fatigue syndrome for 24 weeks was able to significantly improve mental fatigue as well as attention concentration.
Exploratory open label, randomized study of acetyl- and propionylcarnitine in chronic fatigue syndrome. - PubMed - NCBI

Taurine

“Moderate doses of caffeine and taurine can improve information processing in individuals who could not have been in caffeine withdrawal.”
An evaluation of a caffeinated taurine drink on mood, memory and information processing in healthy volunteers without caffeine abstinence. - PubMed - NCBI

“We conclude that taurine should neutralize several untoward effects of caffeine excess.”
Effect of taurine and potential interactions with caffeine on cardiovascular function. - PubMed - NCBI

Pine Bark (Pycnogenol)

100mg pine bark extract (~75% procyanidins) daily for 8 weeks given to healthy students (18-27 years) was able to increase word recall by 3.6 words(58% increase), compared to 0.8 words (11% increase) with placebo, reduced time needed to complete a task by 11.1% compared to a 1.3% reduction with placebo, and reduced the amount of time needed to arrange colored balls in five moves by 20.8%, compared to a 0.7% increase in time with placebo. Additionally, students given pine bark extract failed only 6.3% of college exams taken, while students given placebo failed 10.7% of their exams, meaning that students given placebo were 1.7x as likely to fail an exam as students given pine bark extract. The average score on said exams in the supplement group was 87%, compared to 79.36% with placebo; almost a whole letter grade improvement over placebo.
Pycnogenol® supplementation improves cognitive function, attention and mental performance in students. - PubMed - NCBI

Ornithine

Fifty-two apparently healthy Japanese adults who had previously felt slight stress as well as fatigue were recruited to be study participants and were randomly divided into either the L-ornithine (400 mg/day) or placebo group. They orally consumed the respective test substance every day for 8 weeks. Serum was collected for the assessment of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate (DHEA-S). Perceived mood and quality of sleep were measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), and Ogri-Shirakawa-Azumi sleep inventory MA version (OSA-MA)...

Serum cortisol levels and the cortisol/DHEA-S ratio were significantly decreased in the L-ornithine group in comparison with the placebo group. Also, anger was reduced and perceived sleep quality was improved in the L-ornithine group...

L-ornithine supplementation has the potential to relieve stress and improve sleep quality related to fatigue, both objectively and subjectively.

Randomised controlled trial of the effects of L-ornithine on stress markers and sleep quality in healthy workers

The subjects were all healthy office workers who ingested the placebo, 100 mg caffeine, or 100 mg caffeine plus 200 mg ornithine in the morning and completed questionnaires about their mood. Office workers who consumed the combination of caffeine and ornithine had higher mood ratings 8 h after consumption than office workers who consumed caffeine alone. The results of the present study suggest that there is a unique synergistic effect between caffeine and ornithine on the mood of healthy office workers and that ornithine may potentiate the effects of caffeine.

The Combined Effect of Caffeine and Ornithine on the Mood of Healthy Office Workers

Huperzine-A

4 pairs of junior middle school students complaining of memory inadequacy were divided into two groups by normal psychological health inventory (PHI), similar memory quotient (MQ), same sex and class. The Hup group was administrated orally 2 capsules of Hup (each contains Hup 50 micrograms) b.i.d., and the placebo group was given 2 capsules of placebo (starch and lactose inside) b.i.d. for 4 wk...

At the end of trial, the Hup group's MQ (115 +/- 6) was more than that of the placebo group (104 +/- 9, P < 0.01), and the scores of Chinese language lesson in the Hup group were elevated markedly too...

The Hup capsules enhance the memory and learning performance of adolescent students.

Huperzine-A capsules enhance memory and learning performance in 34 pairs of matched adolescent students. - PubMed - NCBI

CDP-Choline

Sixty healthy adult women ages 40 - 60 completed a clinical screening visit, including a medical exam. After study enrollment each subject was randomly assigned to one of three groups: a daily oral dose of 250 mg citicoline, 500 mg citicoline, or placebo for 28 days...
After 28 days of supplementation, individuals in the 250 mg group made fewer omission (p = 0.04) and commission (p = 0.03) errors compared to those in the placebo group. Individuals in the 500 mg group made significantly fewer commission errors compared to those in the placebo group (p = 0.03) and trended toward making fewer omission errors (p = 0.07). Conclusion: After 28 days of daily citicoline supplementation, participants who were administered either the 250 mg or the 500 mg citicoline doses showed significantly better ability to produce correct responses on the CPT-II, likely due to improved cognitive inhibition. Our findings suggest that citicoline may improve attentional performance in middle-aged women and may ameliorate attentional deficits associated with central nervous system disorders.

Improved Attentional Performance Following Citicoline Administration in Healthy Adult Women

Kanna (sceletium tortuosum)

Zembrin at 25 mg daily dosage significantly improved cognitive set flexibility (P < 0.032) and executive function (P < 0.022), compared with the placebo group. Positive changes in mood and sleep were found. Zembrin was well tolerated.

Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Study of Cognition Effects of the Proprietary Extract Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin) Targeting Phosphodiester... - PubMed - NCBI

16 healthy participants were scanned during performance in a perceptual-load and an emotion-matching task. Amygdala reactivity to fearful faces under low perceptual load conditions was attenuated after a single 25 mg dose of Zembrin. Follow-up connectivity analysis on the emotion-matching task showed that amygdala-hypothalamus coupling was also reduced. These results demonstrate, for the first time, the attenuating effects of S. tortuosum on the threat circuitry of the human brain and provide supporting evidence that the dual 5-HT reuptake inhibition and PDE4 inhibition of this extract might have anxiolytic potential by attenuating subcortical threat responsivity.

Acute effects of Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin), a dual 5-HT reuptake and PDE4 inhibitor, in the human amygdala and its connection to the hypothalamus. - PubMed - NCBI

Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum)

Effect of OS on parameters related to cognition and stress in humans was
evaluated with administration of 300 milligram capsules of ethanolic leaf extracts of Ocimum sanctum (EtOS)
or placebo per day, over 30 days...
Intergroup comparison
revealed a significant improvement of the following cognitive parameters in the EtOS as compared to the
placebo: reaction time (RT) and error rate (ER) of Sternberg test, RT of neutral task of Stroop, RT and ER
of interference task of Stroop.
The intra-group comparison of P300 latency, salivary cortisol, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory showed
improvement over time in the EtOS group alone, though the inter-group difference was significant in the P300
latency alone. There were no changes in heart rate (HR), ΔHR, or galvanic skin response (GSR) or ΔGSR...
Ocimum sanctum leaf extract seems to have potential cognition-enhancing properties in humans.

http://www.ijpp.com/IJPP archives/2015_59_1/69-77.pdf/

Thirty-five subjects (21 male and 14 female; average age 38.4 years) were medicated with the plant extract in a fixed dose regime (500 mg/capsule, twice daily, p.o. after meal). They were thoroughly investigated clinically and using standard questionnaires based on different psychological rating scale at baseline (day 0), mid-term (day 30) and final (day 60). The observations exhibited that, O. sanctum significantly (p<0.001) attenuated generalized anxiety disorders and also attenuated its correlated stress and depression. It further significantly (p<0.001) improved the willingness to adjustment and attention in human. Therefore, it may be concluded that O. sanctum may be useful in the treatment of GAD in human and may be a promising anxiolytic agent in near future.

Controlled programmed trial of Ocimum sanctum leaf on generalized anxiety disorders. (PDF Download Available)

American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius)

This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial (N = 32, healthy young adults) assessed the acute mood, neurocognitive and glycaemic effects of three doses (100, 200 400 mg) of Cereboost™ (P. quinquefolius standardised to 10.65% ginsenosides). Participants' mood, cognitive function and blood glucose were measured 1, 3 and 6 h following administration...

There was a significant improvement of working memory (WM) performance associated with P. quinquefolius. Corsi block performance was improved by all doses at all testing times. There were differential effects of all doses on other WM tasks which were maintained across the testing day. Choice reaction time accuracy and ‘calmness’ were significantly improved by 100 mg. There were no changes in blood glucose levels...

This preliminary study has identified robust working memory enhancement following administration of American ginseng. These effects are distinct from those of Asian ginseng and suggest that psychopharmacological properties depend critically on ginsenoside profiles.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2952762/

Piracetam

Nootropyl (Piracetam) a drug reported to facilitate learning in animals was tested for its elect on man by administering it to normal volunteers. The subjects were given 3 x4 capsules at 400 mg per day, in a double blind study. Each subject learned series of words presented as stimuli upon a memory drum. No effects were observed after 7 days but after 14 days verbal learning had significantly increased

http://nootroo.com/increase-in-the-power-of-human-memory-in-normal-man-though-the-use-of-drugs-piracetam-and-healthy-human-individuals-in-double-blind-study/

Global complexity of 47-channel resting electroencephalogram (EEG) of healthy young volunteers was studied after intake of a single dose of a nootropic drug (piracetam, Nootropil UCB Pharma) in 12 healthy volunteers. Four treatment levels were used: 2.4, 4.8, 9.6 g piracetam and placebo. Brain electric activity was assessed through Global Dimensional Complexity and Global Omega-Complexity as quantitative measures of the complexity of the trajectory of multichannel EEG in state space. After oral ingestion (1-1.5 h), both measures showed significant decreases from placebo to 2.4 g piracetam. In addition, Global Dimensional Complexity showed a significant return to placebo values at 9.6 g piracetam. The results indicate that a single dose of piracetam dose-dependently affects the spontaneous EEG in normal volunteers, showing effects at the lowest treatment level. The decreased EEG complexity is interpreted as increased cooperativity of brain functional processes.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10555876

Kava (Piper methysticum)

-I'm not going to list all of the anti-anxiety studies, just one of the more interesting studies that found that:

In healthy persons who never used Kava, a single dose of 300mg containing 30% kavapyrones (90mg) taken an hour before testing was able to increase cheerfulness (as assessed by CH rating on the SCTI rating scale) and was slightly more effective in those with higher baseline cheerfulness.

Reductions in reaction time (Steinberg item recognition rask) from 2092.5ms to 1265.29ms and enhanced performance on Sperling partial report test were both seen with significance.

A trend towards reduction of seriousness was noted, but not statistically significant. -examine.com analysis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15181652
90mg kavapyrones is a relatively low dose (studies often use up to 250mg/day kavappyrones), but, personally, I only use kava on occasion.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

-not really something I'd want to take when I want to be alert and energized, but still potentially a nice supplement when used later in the day.

The cognitive and mood effects of single doses of the most cholinergically active dried leaf were then assessed in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, balanced crossover study. Following the in vitro analysis, 20 healthy, young participants received single doses of 600, 1000, and 1600 mg of encapsulated dried leaf, or a matching placebo, at 7-day intervals. Cognitive performance and mood were assessed predose and at 1, 3, and 6 h postdose using the Cognitive Drug Research computerized assessment battery and Bond–Lader visual analog scales, respectively...

The most notable cognitive and mood effects were improved memory performance and increased 'calmness' at all postdose time points for the highest (1600 mg) dose. However, while the profile of results was overwhelmingly favorable for the highest dose, decrements in the speed of timed memory task performance and on a rapid visual information-processing task increased with decreasing dose. These results suggest that doses of Melissa officinalis at or above the maximum employed here can improve cognitive performance and mood

http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v28/n10/full/1300230a.html

In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, balanced crossover experiment, 18 healthy volunteers received two separate single doses of a standardized M. officinalis extract (300 mg, 600 mg) and a placebo, on separate days separated by a 7-day washout period. Modulation of mood was assessed during predose and 1-hour postdose completions of a 20-minute version of the Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation (DISS) battery. Cognitive performance on the four concurrent tasks of the battery was also assessed...

The results showed that the 600-mg dose of Melissa ameliorated the negative mood effects of the DISS, with significantly increased self-ratings of calmness and reduced self-ratings of alertness. In addition, a significant increase in the speed of mathematical processing, with no reduction in accuracy, was observed after ingestion of the 300-mg dose...

These results suggest that the potential for M. officinalis to mitigate the effects of stress deserves further investigation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15272110

Valerian (a lot of these studies compare valerian to and/or take valerian with kava)

-again, not something I'd want to take when I want to be alert and active, but it is interesting, and may increase the likeliness of having vivid dreams (and this likelihood is apparently potentiated by kava, although kava alone didn't increase the chance of vivid dreams):

In this pilot study, 24 patients suffering from stress-induced insomnia were treated for 6 weeks with kava (LI-150), 120 mg daily. This was followed by a 2-week 'wash-out' period off treatment, and then, five patients having dropped out, 19 received valerian (LI-156), 600 mg daily, for another 6 weeks. Then there was a further 2-week period off treatment, and a final 6 weeks of treatment of these 19 patients with the two compounds combined (kava + valerian). Stress was measured in three areas: social, personal and life events; insomnia in three areas also: time to fall asleep, hours slept and waking mood. Total stress severity was significantly relieved by both compounds individually (p < 0.01), with no significant differences between them; and there was also improvement with the combination, significant in the case of insomnia (p < 0.05)...

These results are considered to be extremely...

The 'commonest' effect was vivid dreams with kava + valerian (4 cases (21%)) and with valerian alone (3 cases (16%))...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12404572

24 patients suffering from stress-induced insomnia were treated for 6 weeks with kava 120 mg daily. This was followed by 2 weeks off treatment and then, 5 having dropped out, 19 received valerian 600 mg daily for another 6 weeks. Stress was measured in three areas: social, personal and life-events; insomnia in three areas also: time to fall asleep, hours slept and waking mood. Total stress severity was significantly relieved by both compounds (p < 0.01) with no significant differences between them; as was also insomnia (p < 0.01)...

These compounds may be useful in the treatment of stress and insomnia...

The“commonest” side-effect was vivid dreams with valerian(16%)...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11536390

Fifty-four participants performed a standardized colour/word mental stress task on two occasions 1 week apart. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and subjective ratings of pressure were assessed at rest and during the mental stress task. Following the first session (time 1 = T1), individuals took a standard dose of kava (n = 18), or valerian (n = 18) for 7 days, while the remainder acted as controls (n = 18). Differences in BP and HR from resting levels were calculated as reactions to the stress task at both time points. At the second session (time 2 = T2) there was a significant decrease in systolic BP responsivity in both the kava and valerian groups relative to T1, but there were no significant reductions in diastolic BP. Between T1 and T2, the HR reaction to mental stress was found to decline in the valerian group but not in the kava group. Individuals taking kava or valerian reported less pressure during the task at T2 relative to T1. There were no significant differences in BP, HR or subjective reports of pressure between T1 and T2 in the controls. Behavioural performance on the colour/word task did not change between the groups over the two time points. The results suggest that kava and valerian may be beneficial to health by reducing physiological reactivity during stressful situations.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11807960

Phosphatidylserine (PS)

PS supplementation [400mg] significantly increased cognitive function prior to exercise. Improved cognitive function could benefit athletes and non-athletes alike. PS did not appear to affect mood or endocrine response prior to or following resistance exercise.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22017963

It is concluded that six weeks of PS supplementation [200mg/day] shows a statistically not significant tendency (p = 0.07) to improve perceived stress levels in golfers and significantly improves (p < 0.05) the number of good ball flights during tee-off which might result in improved golf scores.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2217563/

Coming Soon: Vinpocetine, Glycine, Panax Ginseng, Polygala

 

[ELROCK]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing the info @ muscleupcrohn

 

[BeastFitness]

DUDE!!!!! One of the better posts I've ever read..so much information! Thanks!

 

[Burnfire]

Thanks for the info! Good stuff

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Thanks everyone! I've noticed that more and more people have been asking about nootropics lately (or, more broadly, anything that can benefit focus, cognition, memory, and/or mood and/or reduce stress, anxiety, and/or fatigue), so having a single place where people can see various ingredients, what they do, and what doses have been shown to work (sometimes there's a range of doses that is effective, and more isn't always better). Even if people don't want to try one ingredient at a time, hopefully this thread will help them be able to better determine what they should look for in a supplement, as well as if a given supplement is properly dosed; lots of nootropic supplements are horribly underdosed, and it's a shame, since nootropics and adaptogens have so much potential to improve the general quality of life for just about everyone. I'd hate to see someone get turned off of these type of supplements because they had a bad experience with a crappy product. Also, in my opinion, lots of these herbal/plant extracts are preferable to taking something like Adderall, which too many people at my university rely on. With lots of supplements we take, there really isn't too data regarding longer-term safety, but many of these herbs have a history of being safely used for hundreds or even thousands of years, which, as Kurtis Frank from examine.com put it, is basically a s**t ton of n=1 samples. A lot of them are generally healthy as well, which is nice. In my opinion, a good supplement should provide you with some sort of benefit (be it increased cognition, reduced anxiety, increased endurance, etc), without having a negative effect on your overall health, as seems to be the case with some supplements today. A lot of us are young people (I'm only 20 myself), and it scares me that some people my age, or even a bit younger, are damaging their bodies already before they're even near their physical or mental peak. Longevity is important for me, and nootropics have huge potential in this area, perhaps even more than they do for cognitive enhancement in otherwise healthy young adults.

 

[BeastFitness]

It is an expanding topic area. I know for myself personally its much needed for Grad school

 

[muscleupcrohn]

It is an expanding topic area. I know for myself personally its much needed for Grad school

I'm still an undergrad (junior in Civil engineering), and it's an extremely valuable tool for me.

 

[BeastFitness]

I'm still an undergrad (junior in Civil engineering), and it's an extremely valuable tool for me.

Completely agree and glad to see others take their academic career as seriously as i do haha

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Completely agree and glad to see others take their academic career as seriously as i do haha

The benefits to focus, memory, and cognition are great, but helping to manage stress and anxiety is also huge for me, both for helping with grades as well as improving my overall quality of life. It's also nice that lots of these supplements not only help with cognition and/or mood, but are also generally healthy, and some even have benefits for athletic performance.

 

[BamBam0319]

Subscribed. 3rd year undergrad and things only get more difficult each year. This thread is seriously a gold mine.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Subscribed. 3rd year undergrad and things only get more difficult each year. This thread is seriously a gold mine.

Thanks man. I'll be adding new supplements to the original posts every so often (I just added a few studies on PS).

 

[kisaj]

Have any of you guys in school tried modafinil? It's the big gun, but can be really useful.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Have any of you guys in school tried modafinil? It's the big gun, but can be really useful.

You need a prescription for modafinil, right? I don't think it's something I'd want to use regularly or rely on, but I am interested in trying it for a day or two during extremely busy times during the semester or during final exams. I don't really want to go with adrafinil though.

 

[kisaj]

Yes, a script is necessary for name brand, but it is available very easily through the generic route. It is quite incredible in my opinion and can keep your mind in top gear for 12-16 hours.

 

[ma70]

I love this thread. Good material.

 

[allprsnl]

Thanks for the info. Maybe I have been caught up in a bad experience with an underdosed product that left a bad taste in my mouth for herbal based supplements. Might be more willing to give a couple of them a try such as valerian/kava combo for my sleep issues and the ashawagandha and rhodiola for anxiety/well-being.

 

[BamBam0319]

Took 500mg phenylpiracetam last night; felt focused and clear headed for a few hours, then for about 30 min I literally felt high and like I was about to start hallucinating. It was interesting. Afterwards I went back to being focused and remembered everything I studied for my exam which I took this morning with confidence.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Thanks for the info. Maybe I have been caught up in a bad experience with an underdosed product that left a bad taste in my mouth for herbal based supplements. Might be more willing to give a couple of them a try such as valerian/kava combo for my sleep issues and the ashawagandha and rhodiola for anxiety/well-being.

I think that poorly dosed products turn a lot of people off of herbal supplements. There are TONS of supplements that are underdosed. In my opinion, if the majority of the studies use an extract standardized for a % of a given component, you should probably do the same (standardized % extract) for a product. Lots of products use a ratio extract (x:1 ratio; concentrated), but that's still a bit iffy sometimes. Granted, certain herbs can realistically only be practically dosed with a ratio extract (either due to a % extract being insanely expensive or not available, or studies using a ratio extract or raw herb, etc), but with supplements like ashwagandha, rhodiola, and bacopa, where there are multiple studies using standardized % extracts, I don't see a reason to use a ratio extract, and you'd need a ton of the raw herbal powder (non-extract) to get an effective dose for a lot of herbs.

Now, there are also a lot of herbs that aren't really effective supplements, but that doesn't mean that there aren't a bunch that do work; there are TONS of plants and herbs, not all of them are going to make great supplements, and some can be bad for you, haha. It's worth noting that a lot of herbs and stuff that have been popular in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda for a long time have recently been having modern studies confirming their effectiveness for their intended uses.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Took 500mg phenylpiracetam last night; felt focused and clear headed for a few hours, then for about 30 min I literally felt high and like I was about to start hallucinating. It was interesting. Afterwards I went back to being focused and remembered everything I studied for my exam which I took this morning with confidence.

Interesting. Does anyone know of a phenylpiracetam study (or aniracetam or Noopept) on healthy (preferably non-elderly) individuals? I haven't seen any, but I'm going to look a little harder. I'm pretty sure that the only racetam that I've seen positive studies on healthy, non-elderly individuals on is piracetam, although certain things (like Noopept) have outperformed piracetam (although that was in regards to recovery from brain damage; not healthy individuals).

At this time, my current racetam is just piracetam at 2.4g 1-2x daily, if only because the research leads me to believe that it will benefit me a bit, although I do have some aniracetam (which I tend to take before writing papers), Noopept (which I tend to take before cleaning and/or organizing stuff), and phenylpiracetam (which I have only used once so far, so I can't come to any conclusions).

 

[kisaj]

Took 500mg phenylpiracetam last night; felt focused and clear headed for a few hours, then for about 30 min I literally felt high and like I was about to start hallucinating. It was interesting. Afterwards I went back to being focused and remembered everything I studied for my exam which I took this morning with confidence.

Wow, that is a high dose. The most I took was about 250-300 and went for a downhill mtn bike ride just in complete euphoria with the beauty around me. Lol. It's great stuff.

I like that my wife likes it too, so we can share the experience.

 

[BamBam0319]

Wow, that is a high dose. The most I took was about 250-300 and went for a downhill mtn bike ride just in complete euphoria with the beauty around me. Lol. It's great stuff.

I like that my wife likes it too, so we can share the experience.

Yeah it was a really interesting experience lol. I didn't feel anything from 100mg at a time so I decided to just mega dose it and see what happened. I knew beforehand about what effects are possibly when taking high doses, so I was anticipating it but it still caught me off guard and actually thought for a second that we were having an earthquake or something. Vision went all whacky and I felt like my equilibrium was off.

 

[kisaj]

How was your body temp? I get really hot on higher doses.

 

[BamBam0319]

How was your body temp? I get really hot on higher doses.

Yes, I definitely noticed I was feeling hot for a while.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Noopept

The meteoadaptogenic properties of a series of drugs with peptide (cortexin, noopept, dilept) and nonpeptide (vinpotropil) structure were investigated in a climate thermobarocomplex (Tabay, Japan) on a group of healthy volunteers aged 20-24. All the studied drugs produced a meteoadaptogenic action, the extent of which depended on the environmental test conditions (overcooling, overheating, hypobaric hypoxia)...

Noopept, affecting positively a psychological component of the functional state, can be used for rapid adaptation to both cold and hot climate. In the hot climate, noopept also enhanced the physical work capacity...

Therefore, all the drugs studied (vinpotropil, cortexin, noopept and dilept) can be recommended as the agents producing activation, support and recovery of the physical and psychological efficiency under rapidly changing environment conditions.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18318195

 

[muscleupcrohn]

It seems like lots of papers consider the use of nootropics to be "cheating" in academia. The following is from one of many papers that discusses this topic:

it can be argued that nootropics lead to an uneven playing field, where wealthier individuals, who have access to nootropics, can perform better academically. While the ethics of nootropics is an emerging topic, the consumption of drugs to enhance performance is a time-worn topic within the field of athletics, where such drugs are considered cheating. Additionally, it is unclear what would constitute enhancement versus therapy—consider an older adult with gradually decreasing memory, is it “fair” to use nootropics to perform at the same level as a young adult, or would this be cheating?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3939671/
I guess we're no longer natty scholars.
The use of nootropics gives me the focus and cognitive ability to research more nootropics to farther improve my cognition, although this occasionally comes at the cost of sleep. Luckily some glycine before bed, and caffeine, theanine, ornithine, and rhodiola in the morning helps with that.

Anyway, some more research:

Sage

The current study utilised a placebo-controlled, double-blind, balanced, crossover design in order to comprehensively assess any mood and cognition modulation by S. lavandulaefolia. Twenty-four [healthy young] participants received single doses of placebo, 25 microl and 50 microl of a standardised essential oil of S. lavandulaefolia...

The results showed that administration of S. lavandulaefolia resulted in a consistent improvement for both the 25- and 50-microl dose on the 'Speed of Memory' factor. There was also an improvement on the 'Secondary Memory' factor for the 25-microl dose. Mood was consistently enhanced, with increases in self-rated 'alertness', 'calmness' and 'contentedness' following the 50-microl dose and elevated 'calmness' following 25 microl. These results represent further evidence that Salvia is capable of acute modulation of mood and cognition in healthy young adults. The data also suggest that previous reports of memory enhancement by Salvia may be due to more efficient retrieval of target material.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15639154/

 

[muscleupcrohn]

What does everyone think about this formula?

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Creatine?

Using double-blind placebo-controlled paradigm, we demonstrated that dietary supplement of creatine (8 g/day for 5 days) reduces mental fatigue when subjects repeatedly perform a simple mathematical calculation. After taking the creatine supplement, task-evoked increase of cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin in the brains of subjects measured by near infrared spectroscopy was significantly reduced, which is compatible with increased oxygen utilization in the brain.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11985880/

Dietary creatine monohydrate supplementation augments neural creatine, increases corticomotor excitability, and prevents the decline in attention that occurs during severe oxygen deficit. This is the first demonstration of creatine's utility as a neuroprotective supplement when cellular energy provision is compromised.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18579168

The most convincing evidence of an effect of creatine on cognitive processing and psychomotor performance appears to be when subjects are cognitively impaired by 24 to 36 h of sleep deprivation and exercise [12,13] or aging [16]...

Based on the data of McMorris et al. [12,13,16], it is possible that creatine only has a measureable effect on cognitive processing and psychomotor performance in individuals who are either permanently (i.e. disease, aging) or temporarily (i.e. sleep deprivation and exercise) cognitively impaired. Specifically, creatine may be able to blunt the decrease in cognitive processing or psychomotor performance during sleep deprivation, but may not improve cognitive processing or psychomotor performance in well rested/unstressed individuals.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18579168

 

[tuberman]

Muscle,

I really don't care much about so called scientific evidence as often science is carried out on small animals and not large human groups or worse on just cells in a petri dish. Now if you are in with a group who have self tested this stuff and compared notes and then back it up with scientific evidence on top, you have something. The human studies you mentioned did not have any numbers attached to them and likely they were relatively small studies. I personally don't much care about stim studies as they do get short term results, at a price. People have known that various stims work for a hundred years. extra scientific tests are absurd.

The amount of BS in science is staggering, and oddly political (not in a Left vs Right sense, but it can be), as attached to past assumptions which are often far off the mark, so if someone wants to look into science first to get ideas and possibilities, then cool. Science does not supply answers though -- only possibilities. I could go on for hours about strange assumptions in science, that hold sway long after they have often been disproven, and especially in biology.

What is your experience, and what is the experience of people you know? After that you back it with science.

My question for you would be why don't you just try that stack listed above for month or so, and then come back ands tell us what you thought or felt about it rather then trying to get input from all of us, who are unlikely to have any experience with the stack as a whole? Just experiment and find out for yourself, you don't need others input. It does look good though, just go for it. When you come back after trying it, break it down into energy increases, focus ability, memory increases and etc. Then try doing without it for a couple of weeks and tell us what hung on and what you lost, and how soon after quitting the stack.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Muscle,

I really don't care much about so called scientific evidence as often science is carried out on small animals and not large human groups or worse on just cells in a petri dish. Now if you are in with a group who have self tested this stuff and compared notes and then back it up with scientific evidence on top, you have something. The human studies you mentioned did not have any numbers attached to them and likely they were relatively small studies. I personally don't much care about stim studies as they do get short term results, at a price.

The amount of BS in science is staggering, and strangely political not in a Left vs Right sense, but it can be), as attached to past assumptions which are often far off the mark, so if someone wants to look into science first to get ideas and possibilities, then cool. Science does not supply answers though -- only possibilities. I could go on for hours about strange assumptions in science, that hold sway long after they have often been disproven, and especially in biology.

What is your experience, and what is the experience of people you know? After that you back it with science.

My question for you would be why don't you just try that stack listed above for month or so, and then come back ands tell use what you thought or felt about it rather then trying to get input from all of us, who are unlikely to have any experience with the stack as a whole? Just experiment and find out for yourself, you don't need others input. It does look good though, just go for it.

Where do I start... Here we go...

First, have you bothered to read the studies I posted? Not only did I read the abstracts for these studies, but I also read basically the entire text, data, and discussions for these studies (I have access to the full texts of the studies from my University)?

If you bothered to read them, you'd see that I ONLY CITED STUDIES ON HEALTHY (non-diseased and non-elderly) HUMANS, so that argument of yours is irrelevant here.

You clearly haven't read the studies, or even what I wrote regarding the studies, as you will see I mentioned quite a few "numbers," and many of these numbers were in comparison to placebo in double-blind placebo-controlled studies. Abstracts don't frequently mention the "numbers," as they're more of a way for you to get the basis of what to expect when you read the study, but, as I said, for some studies I even took the time to write up the "numbers" here.

Second, if you look at ingredients like bacopa, ashwagandha, and rhodiola, you will see that there are several studies that all reach the same conclusion, and up to a few hundred subjects total in the studies I referenced (and I obviously haven't referenced EVERY relevant study). Additionally ,these herbals supplements have a history of being used effectively for hundreds to thousands of years! Why do you think modern science is researching them in the first place? If you're expecting clinical trials over years/decades with tens of thousands of subjects on an herb, you're in the wrong place, and have completely unrealistic expectations (unless you want the herb in question to be considered a pharmaceutical and not a supplement, and therefore not easy to purchase and extremely expensive; someone has to pay for n=10,000 studies after all).

Third, what are you talking about when you say "I personally don't much care about stim studies as they do get short term results, at a price?" Are you seriously trying to tell me that moderate caffeine (and theanine and/or ornithine) is going to improve cognition and mood, but have some sort of long term deleterious effects on heath? Come on now... I didn't reference a bunch of experimental synthetic stimulants, I referenced caffeine at doses that are, in all honesty, lower than what a lot of people have at Starbucks every morning...

Fourth, I didn't make this thread to ask other people what they think about these supplements so much as to provide a thread where people can do some easy research on various nootropics. I knew that I didn't reference EVERYTHING, so I invited others to add to my list and/or share their experiences with various nootropics. I actually have been running the vast majority of these supplements as a stack since around August (when this semester started) and I can say that I have more energy, can function on less sleep, have less stress and anxiety, and am able to memorize things easier than in past semesters.

Now if you are in with a group who have self tested this stuff and compared notes and then back it up with scientific evidence on top, you have something.

-Yes, the 50+ studies I referenced here are completely useless, and I have provided nothing of value in this thread. You, on the other hand, have been a fountain of useful information and knowledge...

Edit: Hell, you didn't even bother to read my first paragraph, or, if you did, you clearly didn't comprehend it:

I'm thinking I'll post up various nootropic supplements, along with what they do, how to dose them, and the research that supports their usage. It can serve as a good reference for people who are new to nootropics, or are just looking to maybe try another nootropic supplement. If anyone else has any good information on nootropics I don't mention ITT (and I certainly can't mention/discuss them all), feel free to add them here.

I was never asking what people thought of running an all-encompasing nootropic stack, nor was I asking people if these supplements work, I intended to provide a place where people can research various nootropics (see which ingredients look interesting, what they do, and how to dose them). Knowing that I'm not some omnipotent and omnicient nootropic God, I invited other people to add to my list to help everyone become more educated regarding nootropic supplements and to help them make better decisions on what to take, how much to take, and what supplements on the market are dosed properly...

Why did I even both responding...

 

[kisaj]

Man, just think if you wrote that on modafinil! Lol

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Man, just think if you wrote that on modafinil! Lol

Haha, if I wrote that on Modafinil I think it would have been a 200 page thesis! While I was writing that post, I was also cooking, eating, watching ESPN, and editing a paper (serious).

I really do want to try Modafinil though. Granted, it's not something I want to use daily or for extended periods of time, but I think it has incredible potential to be used occasionally (like when I have 4 final exams in 2 days this semester).

 

[tuberman]

kisaj,

I am interested in your experience with modafinil. And even good studies on it.

If you recall, I was the one who posted the tread on Mind Steroids many moons ago. Mainly people exchanged experience info on that thread which is the correct way to go about it. This guy is way over the top harsh on what I posted to him, which was not that severe. We don't need any science on mild stims or strong stims to know they work, it's boring and a waste of time, but Modafinil seems to have only a mild stim effect and it works through other ways. In truth, I've tried personally almost everything the original poster has listed and I'm just bored with it all. I've tried everything in his stack except for Kanna. I've tried most of the racetams including Noopept. I have not tried phenylpiracetam yet nor Modafinil. I just think tons of stand alone science posts on tests that don't include 1000's of people or historical long term use by whole cultures fall short of proving much. Schisandra as an extract for instance is not important to the freshness and quality of this herb, in fact, the extract forms are old and less effective then fresh herbs. The fresh herb should be red or at least bright pink, and the extracts often look like the old "Focus Dirt."

I'd like to talk to you about Modafinil if possible, not interested in old news about stuff I experimented with ages ago.

I'm not interested in Trolling so I won't post on his Tread any more.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

This guy is way over the top harsh on what I posted to him, which was not that severe. We don't need any science on mild stims or strong stims to know they work, it's boring and a waste of time

Yes, because demonstrated synergism between caffeine and theanine and caffeine and ornithine is a waste of time and has absolutely no practical application whatsoever, and I only posted about stims, and the average forum member is aware of the synergism between these ingredients, as well as the proper doses to achieve said synergism. Completely useless...

...not interested in old news about stuff I experimented with ages ago.

I'm sorry that my research didn't cater to your exact needs, but perhaps you could have just said that, or asked about something that you do have an interest in, and not come in mentioning "small animals" and "petri dishes," neither of which were mentioned at all ITT, making false accusations on the studies I referenced, they do indeed have "numbers," asserting that your way is the only right way, and misinterpreting the my purpose and intentions in making this thread.

If you want to have a conversation about Modafinil, we can do that. I have several relevant studies on it. You should have just said so.
But a lot of these studies have similarly small (a few dozen subjects) sample sizes, so what makes them any more valid than the BS studies on the boring stuff?

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Tuberman, go to the main page of the Nootropics section; the information in this thread is relevant and useful for a majority of the threads; just because it's not interesting or valuable to you doesn't mean that it's not for a lot of other people.

 

[kisaj]

I'd be happy to discuss, I love talking about experiences.

 

[daxiang]

what product is this?

 

[muscleupcrohn]

what product is this?

For the supp facts I posted earlier? It's for a nootropic supplement that's going to be released soon from a new company. I'll provide some more info soon.

 

[daxiang]

Oh yes thank you.

 

[daxiang]

muscleupcrohn, what differences do you feel between the low% extract of salidrosides vs. higher% for rhodiola. I'm very new to noots, but I am very interested in learning more and your post is super informative. I've been taking KSM66 @ 600mg(5% withanolides) and I can feel a slight reduction in stress, especially in the early mornings when I wake. I do like the calm feeling it provides, and with finals approaching I'm looking more into things that can help me focus.

 

[kisaj]

Higher salidrosides affect dopamine more and higher rosavins affect serotonin more. When you take a high salidroside extract, you get similar benefits as you do from other supplements that affect this, namely l-tyrosine. Increased energy, focus, and attention.

 

[daxiang]

Higher salidrosides affect dopamine more and higher rosavins affect seratonin more. When you take a high salidroside extract, you get similar benefits as you do from other supplements that affect this, namely l-tyrosine. Increased energy, focus, and attention.

Oh thank you very much for your reply.

 

[kisaj]

I would highly consider adding l-tyrosine in if focus is what you are after.

 

[avega17]

Should Ashwagandha, Rhodiola and Bacopa be cycled?

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Should Ashwagandha, Rhodiola and Bacopa be cycled?

Chrome crashed on me while I was writing a response, so here's a shorter version:

I say it's a good idea to cycle basically all of these nootropics and adaptogens once in a while.

I'd say that 12 weeks is a good length to run a lot of things before a few week break, but with my schedule, my current cognitive stack will last ~15 weeks, but I'll be taking about a month off before the next semester starts. Alternatively, many people will rotate between stacks/ingredients every month or two, but I like taking a lot at once, and still want to have some time where I'm not taking anything of this sort for a few weeks.

I plan to cycle off my entire cognitive stack during the breaks between semesters.

There are studies on ashwagandja demonstrating safety and health benefits at 3-6 months.

Most studies on rhodiola only last a few weeks, but I've seen at least one 10 week study showing safety and benefits.

Bacopa takes some time to work fully; studies frequently show more benefits at 8-12 weeks than 4-6, so I'd want to take it for at least 12 weeks.

 

[daxiang]

Does anyone here have any experience taking the pine bark extract? The memory recall benefits sound great, and I'm thinking of getting a few ingredients together to help with tests. I tried focus xt, but the bitartrate does a number on my bowels, even at half dose, so I wanted to buy a few ingredients separately to help with focus.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Does anyone here have any experience taking the pine bark extract? The memory recall benefits sound great, and I'm thinking of getting a few ingredients together to help with tests. I tried focus xt, but the bitartrate does a number on my bowels, even at half dose, so I wanted to buy a few ingredients separately to help with focus.

I've been taking pine bark extract this semester, but I can't really come to any conclusions due to the many other supplements that make up my cognitive stack that I don't have much prior experience with. With that said, I haven't, and wouldn't expect to, notice any acute effects from pine bark, but besides the potential cognitive benefits, it's quite a nice and healthy ingredient. With that said, I can't justify the very high price of "Pycnogenol," so I opt for a more generic, but highely standardized, pine bark extract. Is it quite as good as Pycnogenol? Probably, I can't say for sure, but it's cheap enough that the potential benefits are worth the chance to me, because I'm not paying the crazy premium for Pycnogenol.

 

[daxiang]

Thanks for your reply, I am very interested in that product profile you put up, though I do not know when it will come out. Would you mind sharing some of the supplements you take in your cognitive stack? I know from your write up a few have good interactions with each other, like caff and theanine. I am looking for things to enhance focus more so than stress/anxiety relief, though I really do enjoy rhodiola and ksm66.

 

[drseuss6969]

I can't wait for that formula to come out

 

[muscleupcrohn]

PRL-8-53

All subjects received either a capsule containing magnesium trisilicate
(placebo) or 5 mg of PRL-53 in a capsule mixed with
magnesium trisilicate as filler.
A total of 47 volunteers recruited from the faculty and students
at the university participated in the study. All were normal, healthy
adults. All tests were done on a double-blind basis...

it was found that PRL-8-53 causes slight improvement
of acquisition. Retention of verbal information was
found improved to a statistically significant degree.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/418433

 

[squirtguns89]

muscleUC,

or anyone else for that matter. this is related, and loosely related, but you seem to have a decent grasp on the mechanics for this stuff. cox-2 inhibitors ie high doses vitamin c among others, is one pathway we dont typically want for optimal muscle growth during peri workout windows. im over simplifying this of course, and im sure theres others pathways antioxidants play a role in sub-optimal growth patters (for muscles).

of course, none of this is that simple (to myself at least), i know theres different pathways something can have antioxidant effects that have 0 to do with muscular interactions. I also realize sometimes these things fall under the "see the big picture", "stop micromanaging" comments, but none the less.

with that being said, have you considered this at all and or noticed anything with your research that has made you alter your dosing times for some of these? for example. alcar having antioxidant properties, is that something to at all be concerned about around your workout. i havent found a good enough source to dumb down some of these mitochondrial pathways i read about.