Cognitive Performance: Habits, Nootropics and Claims

What this page covers

"Nootropics" is a marketing word for supplements, drugs and other products said to sharpen memory, focus or thinking. It is not a medical category, and it does not tell you whether a product works or is safe. This page is an overview of what the research supports for healthy adults, from habits to products, and where the evidence runs out.

For individual ingredients, go to the Supplements section: nootropics, nootropic evidence by outcome and nootropic safety and claim checks. This page does not give ingredient profiles or any advice on what to take.

Start with habits and the basics

A 2023 meta-analysis (a study that pools many trials) combined 54 randomized trials of exercise in healthy people. It found that exercise benefited overall cognition and every cognitive area examined, with older adults showing the greatest gains in global cognition, executive function and memory. [1] The authors also said more studies were needed for attention and information processing. [1] Label: promising but limited; the effect depends on the type of exercise and the group studied.

Other everyday factors, such as sleep, stress and food, are covered in brain-healthy habits, brain fog and the sleep guide. The habits behind attention are on the pages about distraction and attention and work-rest routines and breaks.

Supplements

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says direct evidence that dietary supplements can prevent Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia is lacking. [2] It also says there is no conclusive evidence that Ginkgo biloba can prevent or slow dementia or cognitive decline. [2] Those findings are about dementia prevention, not sharper thinking in healthy young adults. For that goal we found no government or systematic-review source to cite for the whole category, so the label is insufficient evidence for the category; individual ingredients are rated on the Supplements pages.

Prescription stimulants used off-label

A 2020 set of meta-analyses covered 47 studies of modafinil, methylphenidate and d-amphetamine in healthy adults who were not sleep-deprived. It found a small overall effect for modafinil (standardized mean difference 0.12), a somewhat larger one for methylphenidate (0.21) and no effect for d-amphetamine. [3] The authors noted that effects were small, came from experiments that do not reflect real-world use, and that the user belief that these drugs enhance thinking is not supported by the evidence so far. [3] Label: mixed, small effects in laboratory settings.

These are prescription medicines with their own risks. Using them without a prescription is not something this site recommends; talk with a prescriber about any medicine.

Products that can cause harm

The FDA says tianeptine is not approved for any medical use and that reports of severe side effects involving it are increasing. [4] It also says companies make claims that tianeptine can improve brain function and treat anxiety without evidence that they are true. [4] Label: evidence of harm for tianeptine products sold as brain boosters; if someone may have taken too much, call 911 or US Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222.

How to judge a focus claim

Ask who was studied (a healthy person like you?), whether the result was a test score or something that matters in daily life, and whether there was a placebo group. Our checklist is in how to evaluate a biohack, and the page on brain optimization claims looks at common marketing phrases.