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Many people who first explore nootropic supplements are looking for a pill to make them smarter.
Whether you want to perform better academically, understand difficult concepts with ease, develop a better memory or improve your ability to think analytically, there are brain supplements that can help you.
Nootropics work on a foundational level, enhancing some of the basic cognitive functions that happen in your brain millions of times a day.
Taking certain nootropic supplements can actually increase the number of neurons and synapses in your brain while others make communication between these neurons more expedient. When you add these tiny changes together, the result is measurably improved mental performance and an increase in your intellectual power.
So what are the best nootropics for intelligence and how do they work?
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Nootropics and Intelligence
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Before discussing some of the ways that Nootropics can boost your intelligence, it is important to understand that there are different types of intelligence.
Nootropics will give you different results depending on the type of intelligence we are looking at. Broadly, we can distinguish between Crystalized Intelligence and Fluid Intelligence.
These two categories of intellect are at work in many of our day to day tasks and without one the other is impotent. In order for a pill to truly make you smarter, it needs to potentiate gains in both categories.
Crystalized Intelligence: When we think of how much someone knows, we are pondering their crystalized intelligence. This is a reflection of the body of knowledge and experience you have gained throughout your life.
If you memorize your biology textbook, you are increasing the breadth of information and concepts that you have stored in your brain. We correlate crystallized intelligence mostly with our volume of long-term memory.
Therefore, if you take nootropics that boost long-term memory formation, storage and recall you can improve this area of intelligence.
Fluid Intelligence: Fluid intelligence relates less to what you know and more to what you can do cognitively. It is a reflection of your ability to learn, reason, discern patterns and problem solve.
For example, your ability to grasp a new mathematical equation, to analyze an argument for logical fallacies, or to recognize abstract relationships is a representation of fluid intelligence. We think of this type of intelligence as accessing our crystalized intelligence to navigate the world and come up with solutions to problems we encounter.
Your fluid intellect relates closely to working memory capacity. We can use nootropics that improve synaptic plasticity and short-term memory to positively influence fluid intelligence.
How to Increase Intelligence with Nootropics
Nootropics and smart drugs can address factors related to both crystalized and fluid intelligence but in different ways.
It should be pointed out that taking nootropics on their own will not dramatically increase your crystalized stores of knowledge.
However, these supplements can facilitate better long-term memory storage in the same way that supplementing with protein can potentiate muscle growth.
Simply adding a scoop of protein powder to your morning glass of milk is not enough to result in bigger arm muscles. In order for your muscle tissue to actually increase in strength and size, you must exercise. But the protein powder makes it easier for you to develop larger muscles should you engage in an effective workout plan.
Similarly, memory-boosting nootropics make it easier for you to develop greater crystallized intelligence should you engage your mind by reading new things or trying new experiences.
When it comes to fluid intelligence, nootropics are more capable of affecting changes on their own. They do this by increasing your working memory capacity and encouraging new connections to form in your brain. This has profound implications for what we typically think of as “being smart”.
In fact, a 2010 study found that working memory was a better predictor of success academically than other traditional measures like IQ scores. Your short-term memory is not just a measurement of being able to remember the phone number your friend just gave you or recalling what your girlfriend said two minutes earlier. It also has to do with your ability to perform mental calculations and manipulations of data.
The capacity of your brain to perform these types of operations and to learn new information is called synaptic plasticity. Your brain consists of a network of billions of interconnected neurons which communicate to each other via synapses along offshoots called dendrites and axons.
These connections are not static but rather constantly change with new synapses being formed and unused ones being pruned away. The more readily new connections and pathways are formed, the more plastic your brain is.
Some individuals naturally have higher degrees of neuroplasticity, and as you age, plasticity declines. However, taking certain nootropic supplements can actually increase your synaptic plasticity by boosting the activity of certain neurotransmitters.
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Acetylcholine and Glutamate
Two of the most important neurotransmitters for learning, memory and reasoning are acetylcholine and glutamate. Neurotransmitters are essentially the messengers of your neurons; they are released at synapses to communicate and cause reactions at different neurons.
In general, the higher your levels of these neurotransmitters and the greater the sensitivity of your synaptic receptors, the more activity in your brain. Increasing acetylcholine and glutamate activity in areas like the cerebral cortex and hippocampus (responsible for long-term memory formation) can contribute to better ability to remember and learn new information.
By stimulating the cholinergic and glutamatergic systems, you can also make performing manipulations and calculations with data easier as well. The result is a more plastic brain that can form new connections and maintain existing connections with greater efficiency.
Best Nootropics for Intelligence
What are the best supplements to take if you want to increase your synaptic plasticity and fluid intelligence? The Racetam family of nootropics reign supreme in this area.
Piracetam, Aniracetam, Oxiracetam, Pramiracetam and Phenylpiracetam all stimulate glutamate and acetylcholine synapses that are important for memory and general cognition.
Each of these supplements has a slightly different mechanism of action so you will want to consider the effects of each one to determine which is the best for you.
Another closely related compound is Noopept which is a Piracetam derivative that is 1000 times more potent. There continues to be extensive research in this area of nootropics and new drugs like Sunifiram may soon be added to this list.
Another mechanism by which you can increase intelligence is through greater acetylcholine production in the brain. The acetylcholine neurotransmitter is synthesized in your brain cells from choline sources in your food, but most people do not get enough of this vital compound from their diet.
For this reason, Nootropic supplements like Alpha GPC, Centrophenoxine and CDP Choline (Citicoline) are great choices to stack with your Racetams. These compounds are acetylcholine precursors which ensure that you have enough of this neurochemical for optimal brain functioning.
A number of other herbal and natural nootropics can also increase acetylcholine levels such as Huperzine A, Ashwagandha, ALCAR, DMAE, Tyrosine, Pyritinol, Galantamine and Iodine.
There are many other ways that you can use Nootropics to help you become smarter and increase your intellectual capacity. For example, energy boosting compounds like Modafinil and Adrafinil are useful for increasing alertness and mental clarity.
While not directly resulting in greater fluid intelligence, the higher energy levels can make performing any number of cognitive functions easier so that you are maximizing your brainpower.
Similarly, taking mood-enhancing and anxiety-reducing nootropics like Picamilon, Theanine or Inositol may indirectly lead to better focus and greater productivity. While the idea of taking a pill to make you smarter still might seem skeptical to the unexperienced, there is extensive research from neuroscience backing up these claims.
In the end, the best way to determine the truth is by trying nootropics for yourself and measuring the changes that occur in your own intelligence.
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Article last updated on: February 19th, 2018 by Nootriment