Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Improving Cognition with Anit-Nootropics?

kclo4 - 4-8-2007 at 01:01

The amount of Acetylcholine, and the Acetylcholine receptors effect ones ability to think in some ways, i believe its mostly with cognition
"Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter in all autonomic ganglia. In other words, it is a chemical that allows neurons to communicate with each other within humans and other organisms."

so it helps you think, and that makes perfect since because plants such a datura contain atropine alkaloids and they block Acetylcholine or something


well now if we look at an addiction to caffeine, it does much the same i would think
caffeine blocks adenosiene that makes you tired, and so you dont feel tired and that is why caffeine works as a stimulant

so if you could take small amounts of Acetylcholine inhibitors your body would produce more receptors just like what happens in a caffeine addiction, the receptors increase in number.

now when you stop using caffeine you get tired more often then not

so i think if you could be exposed to benydril and/or the chemicals in datura you would first start off slightly dumber, then become normal but then when you stopped its use, you could increase boost your cognitive ability

It would be interesting to test, simply growing lots of datura where you sleep could help a lot i bet
and then when you wake up and leave, perhaps it would leave your system a few hours later and ta-duh your cognition is better then it ever has been before!


Well i don't see why it wouldn't work, do you guys?
what is your input?

Eclectic - 4-8-2007 at 07:37

Sort of like trying to treat panic disorder with methampetamine? Make it worse so you feel better on the rebound?

The "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" approach :P

roamingnome - 4-8-2007 at 09:25

intersting...
reverse tolerance getting off of something would be better then being on....

in regards to adenosiene blockers....

caffeine use has caught up with me, the neurtranmitters have built up. No one wants to be "high" all the time, but sleepyness during the day sucks worse.

"D-Propranolol might also be used as a substitute for xanthines to produce a feeling of well being, awareness, awareness and increased performance in beverages to substitute for coffee, tea, colas and other drinks with xanthines."

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5116867-description.html

more selective antagonists... put that on the list of things to make...hmmmm, unless a Dr. will have it

kclo4 - 4-8-2007 at 13:11

But do you think it could work?

does any one know if we can even get smarter by means of drugs, at least cognitively?

Vitus_Verdegast - 7-8-2007 at 21:30

Is there any proof that former addicts after long time abstaining still are more often tired than those who have been (relatively) caffeine-free for life ?

My feeling would be that eventually, when a caffeine-addict abstains for long enough time, the withdrawal symptoms, eg. the tiredness, will subside.

Your idea of ingesting daily amounts of datura for a long period of time in order to experience withdrawal symptoms that will ultimately enhance your cognitive abilities doesn't somehow seem so appealing to me.

(I can already imagine this treatment being applied in retirement homes, instead of piracetam. First give them a daily dose of scopolamine for about a year, then abstain for a year or two. Repeat if necessary. One year drooling in a chair, the next reading Dostojewski smoking a pipe in front of the fire. :D )

kclo4 - 8-8-2007 at 00:25

"My feeling would be that eventually, when a caffeine-addict abstains for long enough time, the withdrawal symptoms, eg. the tiredness, will subside"

yes, they subside very fast, as do a lot of addictions

i think you could do it for 5 days, and stop another 5 days, and have better cognative ability that way

and all you would need to do really is keep a bunch of plants in your room
it will also give you lots of dreams i hear.

but the amounts would be very small i think, at first, you could up them a lot i bet, probably a ton and then stop them completely
sounds very interesting
maybe i should try it on a mouse? :P

longimanus - 8-8-2007 at 13:00

Quote:
it will also give you lots of dreams i hear.
Just as the abovementioned propranolol - but the nightmarish variation.

I'm a little sceptical about this idea (actually a lot). You mentioned mice - well, mice that have been given scopolamine are still dumber even a week after discontinuation of the drug.

Receptor desensitisation is not the only mechanism important for modulation of the cholinergic system. If not else ACE activity could change very rapidly, just as the turnover of the mediator.

And finally (and most importantly) the function of the cholinergic system (most of the neurons starting from the basal nucleus of Meynert in substantia innominata and projecting to the cortex) is to activate cortical neurins (associated with cognitive function) just like the neurons from locus coeruleus affect arousal - that's why meth increases quantity but may even decrease quality.
You don't get smarter by activating or deactivating certain system - you get smarter by increasing the number of synaptic contacts. And this is accomplished by mental exercises (some nootropics wouldn't hurt).

feacetech - 8-8-2007 at 13:07

I had the same idea when studying pharmacology except when the effects of cannibis use are wereing off you short term memory could be getting a boost via upregulation except the period would be very short due to the short lived tolerance to the drug

Blind Angel - 9-8-2007 at 03:47

What about Vasopression, it is said to have influence on memory too. Anybody has good reliable info on that?

longimanus - 9-8-2007 at 11:32

There are three types of vasopressin (ADH) receptors according to their loci of expression - vascular, renal and neural. ADH analogues devoid of vasoconstictor effects have been synthesised and evaluated in memory-impaired senior patients - they turned out, as expected, to be effective. Still, ADH acts very similarly to NA and thus it is good only for facilitation of memory retention (and reproduction).