How Do Nootropics Work
Nootropics In Action
If you’re looking for a way to improve your memory, focus and concentration, or just give yourself a mental edge, nootropics could be right up your street. You might be seeking serious focus to help you journey through a challenging fitness plan, looking for a boost to get you through a string of important exams or simply wanting to maintain a mental peak – and nootropics can support you in all of these areas.
The range of choice out there when it comes to nootropics, however, is frankly bamboozling, with myriad strains out there working in different ways to optimise your cognitive prowess. Generally, though, nootropics work by impacting the brain’s neurotransmitters – the chemicals that bind the brain’s receptors through synapses. This binding means that the receptor can complete its function. Each of the brain’s neurotransmitters has unique receptors and set of actions, and nootropics work to make these more efficient.
There are three main systems that nootropics tend to target – let’s take a look at them in more detail here…
- The Glutamate and the Glutamatergic System
The brain’s most common neurotransmitter, the glutamate and glutamatergic system is all about maintaining general good health in the brain while facilitating both learning and memory. In order for our brains to function as well as they should, the brain needs exactly the right amount of glutamate (indeed, both Parkinsons and Alzheimer’s are linked to excessive amounts of glutamate in the brain).Nootropics like ampakines and racetams are associated with their ability to target and stimulate the glutamate receptor, strengthening memory, capacity to learn, energy and focus.
- Dopamine and Serotonin
In addition to promoting a happy mood, dopamine and serotonin work to support focus, memory and reward. It’s important to bear in mind, however, that supplements that boost dopamine levels can be very powerful (and even addictive), so aren’t really recommended for everyday use.
Sensibly using a supplement to support healthy serotonin levels, however, is known to enhance mood and help support healthy brain functioning,
- Acetylcholine and the Cholinergic System
Acetylcholine is a super-important neurotransmitter that plays a pivotal role in a range of brain activities including sensory perception, decision making, learning, memory and focus.
This cholinergic system possesses both the nicotinic and muscarinic receptors, and racetram nootropics have seen some great improvements in cognitive functioning in both these areas, especially in understanding concepts and retaining new information.
In Addition
A fourth and final way in that nootropics work is as an antioxidant.. – Our brain (in fact our entire body) is under constant attack from everyday toxins found in the environment around us.. Known as free radicals, these can effect and reduce the ability of the brain cells to function correctly… a good nootropic will help remove these toxins, allowing the brain to function at its peak..