This week I am launching a “series” which explains the idea of “Using chemicals (aka. food and drugs) to enhance brain performance”.
The first post will introduce the concept of using chemicals to enhance cognitive performance, the second post will explore the various chemicals which can improve brain function and the final post in the series will point out some of the pit falls and strategies to ensure what you buy is based on science not marketing hype.
So lets kick off with a brief look at the idea of using “drugs” to improve your brain performance.
Drugs can do more than just improve physical performance
Currently when you hear enhancing performance the focus is on improving motor functions / physical performance either on the sports field or in the bedroom.
Drugs that come to mind = steroids (anabolic), EPO (erythropoitin) and Viagra®.
Business is looking for ways to improve brain performance
Athletes have experimented to improve their physical performance for years, combining drugs and nutrients to shave off a second or two from their time and secure the gold medal.
Now corporate executives, salesmen and students are looking for tools to get them and keep them, at the top, in an increasingly competitive world.
Dawning of the neurorevolution
The advances in brain science, imaging technologies, IT, biotechnology and psychology are combining to bring new tools to fix broken brains, birthing the era of neurotechnology.
Brains are emerging as big business, by 2030 brain disease is expected to be the largest contributor to ill health. But the field of neurotechnology is starting to take us beyond just using medicine to fix broken brains.
Neurotechnology is bringing technology that enhances brain functioning in the healthy
- improving our ability to think
- improving our ability to remember
- helping us to manage our emotions / reason
- enhancing our experiences bringing ectasy and removing agony
Cognitive enhancement through “drugs”
It is not a new concept. You’ve probably been using a cognitive enhancer most of your life……….
Of the big three drugs caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, the first two are smart drugs (nootropics) and the last is a very powerful mood altering substance.
The term, nootropics is derived from Greek – “noos” = mind and “tropos” = changed, toward, turn and it is used to describe all chemicals that help us to remember more, focus and think faster.
This is the first part of a 3 part series introducing Nootropics – “drugs” used to enhance cognitive performance. Part 1 – How to win a medal for brain performance Part 2 – What can I take to boost brain performance ? Part 3 – All cognitive enhancers are not created equalKnow someone who will find this post useful ? Share it on facebook, linkedin, twitter
Further reading
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Chocolate milk is the best sports drink on the market | Jet lag causes long term lag in cognitive performance | How to determine if your man is an alpha male |
The 7 Big Spoons™…. are master switches that turn health on.
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Balance Eicosanoids | Rein in insulin | Dial down stress | Sleep ! | Increase Vit D | Culivate microflora | Think champion |
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Did you learn something new or do you have a different perspective ? I’d love to hear from you so post me a comment below…..