Nootropics are smart-pills, and in fact include substances such as caffeine and nicotine.

Taken by dementia patients, these drugs can improve memory and cognition in normal people.

See Oxiracetam, Piracetam and Aniracetam, all created back in the 60s, seeding the nootropic revolution.

Then there’s Selegiline, a parkinson’s drug.

Rolipram, a type 4 phosphodiesterase inhibitor, is a potential candidate for treatment of Alzheimer’s. Caffeine and Theophyllines (bronchial smooth muscle relaxant amongst others, used for treatment of asthma) are non-selective PGE inhibitors.

And lastly, acetyl-l-carnitine which is a fatty acid transporter in the mitochondria to allow for its oxidisation and has a role in improving mental function.

These are interesting drugs to read about, but I wouldn’t pounce on them without researching their short and long term risk profiles.

Just watch this space for a brave new world, where our personality profiles correlate with our drug stack and not our DNA, the latter of which is yet lagging beyond our control. (perhaps a race is is due, between geneticists and pharmacologists)