ReviewDrugs2022
Benefits and Harms of 'Smart Drugs' (Nootropics) in Healthy Individuals.
Review in Drugs, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 22 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cognitive and Mood Effects of a Soluble Mango Leaf Extract (ZynamitePharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Design and Synthesis of Novel Bioactive Squamolone Derivatives Targeting Carbonic Anhydrase and Acetylcholinesterase Enzymes.ACS omega · 2026Article
- Review
- Developing Messages to Prevent Smokeless Tobacco and Nicotine Pouch Uptake Among Early Career Rural Firefighters in California: A Qualitative Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Advances in GABA-Enriched Yogurt and Frozen Yogurt: Microbial Biosynthesis, Functional Properties, and Health Perspectives-A Comprehensive Review.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Focus on Cognitive Enhancement: A Narrative Overview of Nootropics and "Smart Drug" Use and Misuse.Biology · 2025Review
- Exploring Cognitive Enhancers: from neurotherapeutics to ethical and regulatory challenges: a mini review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Review
- Positive AMPA and Kainate Receptor Modulators and Their Therapeutic Potential in CNS Diseases: A Comprehensive Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Acute Supplementation of Soluble Mango Leaf Extract (ZynamitePharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Effect of a Plant-Based Nootropic Supplement on Perceptual Decision-Making and Brain Network Interdependencies: A Randomised, Double-Blinded, and Placebo-Controlled Study.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Unveiling the role of erinacines in the neuroprotective effects ofFrontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- The association between test anxiety, learning strategies, and open-label placebo effects on academic test performance: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Pharmacotherapy for Poststroke Cognitive Impairment and Poststroke Cognitive Impairment With Dementia: A Review.Stroke research and treatment · 2025Review
- Ginkgo Biloba as a niche theme cognitive enhancer agent, 1420 dokumen of Scopus database. A bibliometric study from 1988 to 2024.F1000Research · 2025Article
- Modafinil, an atypical CNS stimulant?Advances in pharmacology (San Diego, Calif.) · 2024Article
- Development of White Cabbage, Coffee, and Red Onion Extracts as Natural Phosphodiesterase-4B (PDE4B) Inhibitors for Cognitive Dysfunction:Advances in pharmacological and pharmaceutical sciences · 2024Article
- Higher general intelligence is associated with stable, efficient, and typical dynamic functional brain connectivity patterns.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2024Article
- Who Wants to Enhance Their Cognitive Abilities? Potential Predictors of the Acceptance of Cognitive Enhancement.Journal of Intelligence · 2023Article
- Methylphenidate use and misuse among medical residents in Israel: a cross-sectional study.Human resources for health · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
'Smart drugs' (also known as 'nootropics' and 'cognitive enhancers' [CEs]) are being used by healthy subjects (i.e. students and workers) typically to improve memory, attention, learning, executive functions and vigilance, hence the reference to a 'pharmaceutical cognitive doping behaviour'. While the efficacy of known CEs in individuals with memory or learning deficits is well known, their effect on non-impaired brains is still to be fully assessed. This paper aims to provide an overview on the prevalence of use; putative neuroenhancement benefits and possible harms relating to the intake of the most popular CEs (e.g. amphetamine-type stimulants, methylphenidate, donepezil, selegiline, modafinil, piracetam, benzodiazepine inverse agonists, and unifiram analogues) in healthy individuals. CEs are generally perceived by the users as effective, with related enthusiastic anecdotal reports; however, their efficacy in healthy individuals is uncertain and any reported improvement temporary. Conversely, since most CEs are stimulants, the related modulation of central noradrenaline, glutamate, and dopamine levels may lead to cardiovascular, neurological and psychopathological complications. Furthermore, use of CEs can be associated with paradoxical short- and long-term cognitive decline; decreased potential for plastic learning; and addictive behaviour. Finally, the non-medical use of any potent psychotropic raises serious ethical and legal issues, with nootropics having the potential to become a major public health concern. Further studies investigating CE-associated social, psychological, and biological outcomes are urgently needed to allow firm conclusions to be drawn on the appropriateness of CE use in healthy individuals.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.