There is a great deal of interest in smart drugs nowadays. The question of this reading can be further divided: Can they help you think clearer, learn better, and be smarter. One smart drug of interest is Modafinil. Can this drug actually make you smarter or is it just a load of hype?
What are Smart Drugs?
Smart drugs are also known as nootropics. According to Webster’s dictionary, nootropics mean, “relating to, or promoting the enhancement of cognition, and memory and the facilitation of learning.”
In the mid-1960s, Dr. Corneliu Giurgea invented the phrase nootropics while he was trying to develop a sleeping pill. For a herb or drug to be considered a nootropic, it needs to do the following:
- Improve behavior under unfavorable conditions
- Enhance memory
- Protect the brain from injury by physical or chemical means
- Demonstrate a low toxicity and side-effect profile
- Improve tonic cortical/subcortical control mechanisms
Smart drugs are used by anyone with an interest in enhancing their mental focus, memory, ability to learn, and to get rid of brain fog.
What is Modafinil?
Modafinil (Provigil) is a wakefulness enhancer that is prescribed to treat excessive sleepiness from narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and shift work disorder. Doctors can also prescribe it for other conditions that include depression, fatigue, and or the management of opioid-related sedation.
Does Modafinil Make You Smarter?
Smarter is probably not accurate, since being smarter does take study and learning. But can Modafinil help you study, enhance your cognitive ability, and help you retain what you’ve learned?
Researchers reviewed 24 studies that were published between 1990 and 2014 concerning Modafinil. The studies included over 700 people and were all placebo-controlled studies. These 24 studies tested thinking, learning, planning and decision-making, memory, creativity, and flexibility. (Source)
They concluded that Modafinil did enhance certain features of cognitive abilities, but not all. Overall, it appears that Modafinil does improve executive function, which is a set of mental skills such as working memory, flexible thinking (cognitive flexibility), and self-control. Executive function is responsible for numerous skills that include:
- The ability to pay attention
- Staying focused on tasks until completion
- Organizing, planning, and prioritizing
- Regulating emotions
- Understanding differing points of view
- Keeping track of what you’re doing
If a person has trouble with executive functioning, they most likely have problems with following directions. They may find it hard to focus, and handle emotions.
There are more studies concerning Modafinil than most other smart drugs. Different studies found the following results for Modafinil:
- It increases mood and resistance to fatigue
- Improves motivation, reaction time, vigilance, and fatigue levels
- Reduces “impulse response” like making bad decisions
Wrapping it up
Alas, the question of whether or not Modafinil makes you smarter is somewhat ambiguous. Just using Modafinil won’t turn you into a genius. No doubt about that…
Still, if one were to use Modafinil and focus intensely on studying, learning a new skill or getting better professionally, then we can safely assert that Modafinil can help you become smarter.
Still, Modafinil will speed up your cogs whatever you may do. If you don’t use it wisely, though, and spend that time playing video games or scrolling social media, then no, you’re not smarter.