Maybe ask your GP if there are things like Notropil IIRC that might help you.
+1. Flex those Neurons!
Buy a drinking chess game set
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Declining intelligence
- Thread starter Jamal
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Maybe ask your GP if there are things like Notropil IIRC that might help you.
+1. Flex those Neurons!
Buy a drinking chess game set
I agree, although in my case it can’t be depression. I thought it was age.
Notropil = Nootropil (check-out nootropics [smart drugs] on Wikipedia. The active ingredient in Nootropil is pirocetam. Memory enhancer (the jury is still out). Initially developed for Alzheimer’s disease.
Used it for a while and it felt like I was able to cram a little more and remeber better in the exams... could have also just been the placebo effect
Used it for a while and it felt like I was able to cram a little more and remeber better in the exams... could have also just been the placebo effect
One of the side effects of Nootropil is supposedly that it can make you fat... So I was wondering... when you say "cram a little more" ... was that dough-nuts?
Used it for a while and it felt like I was able to cram a little more and remeber better in the exams... could have also just been the placebo effect
The effect is very subtle. You don’t notice it unless you are sensitized. I found I could recall the titles and authors of books I had read years ago.
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I was a HOD once. I often wished for a ‘smart’ cocktail before going into one of those ‘please explain’ type meetings (when a staff member screws-up). Your back is to the wall, not because of anything you’ve done but because the buck stops with you. You scarcely know the details. It would have been useful to be able to ‘turbocharge’ the brain in some instances (smart drugs don’t work like that but I didn’t know at the time).
I considered the ‘nootropic’ problem and concluded that enhanced memory and an increased conceptual ability would be the most useful. A drug originally developed for Alzheimer’s disease could address the enhanced memory. ‘Nootropil’ is the SA brand name. The active ingredient is ‘pirocetam’ (sp). I checked this with a Doctor. Harmless. The recommended dose is 400mg daily. It is a schedule 3 drug and needs a doctors prescription. You can get it on medical aid. He suggested I buy the 800mg. tablet and break it in half along the scored line. Cheaper (the 400mg dose comes in capsules). The conceptual ability seems to be addressed by ‘choline’, present in sufficient quantities in the contents of an inhaler (unavailable in SA so I laughed it off). I have looked into the ‘Smart Drinks’ issue (usually available at E raves). They are mostly herbal & vitamin enriched. They are also not really ‘smart’ but concentrate more on stamina and feel-good elements (they do work, however).
Nootropil is not addictive and it harmless. It doesn’t turn you into a drooling idiot with prolonged use or risk you turning-up in casualty to have your stomach pumped. I don’t think it can be used for a short-term boost. For it to be ‘effective’ requires a course stretching over months.
NOTE: I have left that job. This is not a holy grail of mine any longer so I stopped taking them.
LOL
No. I did not pick up any weight as I recall.I used it over a period of about 6-7 months. Started using it in April or May and stopped after my last exam in November
Reminds me of something that was available during the '80s called Reactivan, schedule 7, prescribed for the work related all nighters I had to pull in those days. The stuff literally made the veins on my forehead pop such was the joy they were spreading to my dumbass frontal lobes. Not sure if it actually was the case but I felt 5 IQ points sharper at the time. And at the end of the day, I suppose that's all that matters.
Reactivan accumulated rather nastily in one's liver so they took it away in the 90's. Mostly Vitamin B 12 IIRC.
But I doubt any drug is a sustainable solution. They may seem to have no side-effects atm, but next year we may know different. There aint no such thing as a free meal.
I used it over a period of about 6-7 months. Started using it in April or May and stopped after my last exam in November
This is idle speculation only – not terribly interested after I had stopped. I think the effects are indefinite over time. It is not like a conventional drug where the effects wear-off. It creates an environment in the brain which leads to the creation of more and more highly complex neuronal links. This stays with you. You probably still have a kickass memory although you won’t notice. It’s normal for you.
HavocXphere
Honorary Master
I doubt that. Pathways deteriorate rapidly if not used. And if you were using them in day to day life anyway then you wouldn't need a drug to help create them in the first place (unless you've actually got Alzheimer).
It is only speculation (I am not prepared to defend my view to the death). However, the ‘pathways’ you talk about are always used with memory (you use it all the time) to the maximum extent. Pirocetam boosts what you have created already. I am prepared to be shot down in flames but your argument is weak.
guest2013-1
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It's not your intellect that's the issue here. It's your ability to focus at the task at hand and complete it. In other words, stop procrastinating! Your depression will soon alleviate itself since the one influences the other... the more you stare at the object without doing anything the more you get depressed because you're not doing anything.
I'm sure the doctor prescribed you a pill and billed you for the session... that's what they're there to do. Make money and pawn you off on pharmaceutical companies.
guest2013-1
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BTW, "pathways" do not deteriorate. The neurons in your brain replicates, passing on whatever it held before completely *dying*. The same thing happens when you age. Your cells keep replicating copies of itself to do the work once it gets too old. Free radicals is what actually causes us to age as the replication process deteriorates over time. So unless I totally slept through that lecture, saying that a pathway deteriorates because it goes unused might actually be the dumbest thing I've ever heard since that would mean, just because I haven't been in the pool for 20 years or haven't been on a bicycle for 20 years, that those pathways are gone/deteriorates so much that I can't remember how to swim/ride a bike.
HavocXphere
Honorary Master
Hey me too. We should form a club.
The drug itself has a short half-life so it rapidly clears out once you stop taking it, so the active effect is temporary. The real question is whether that which was boosted stays boosted. I'm inclined to say no because most (all?) things fade in the human body. Stop using a muscle and it deteriorates. Stop using a skill and it fades. etc I see no reason why this case should be any different.
Then why do memories fade? I'm pretty sure the new neurons form their *own* connections which may or may not be the same as the old.
And yeah pathways was the wrong word. :/
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The brain would be very inefficient if it did not trim what was no longer in use. You may not forget how to ride a bicycle, but may have to reacquire the former level of skill. The extent of the loss would depend on how ingrained something was.
For some us the game will be boring no matter what. There are plenty of complex board games I really enjoy. Chess is not and never will be one of them.
5.
I have no problem with that logic. The thing is, this is not an occasionally used skill or something exotic used at one time but no longer. It is MEMORY. It is used every day. Pathways will not deteriorate because of disuse. I would imagine that it is one of the most heavily used attributes.
scotty777
...doesn't know
I've had many issues with my mind either going off on tangets, and I lose track of a conversation, and also I have noticed that I can lose minutes at a time just like you staring at something... however, I think what is happening is you don't remember what you were thinking about, so you think you weren't thinking. ha ha
And yes, I think the website is called Luminosity. I joined it to start getting my short term memory up as it was/is horrid (information goes in, then goes right back out).
I also play puzzle games, simple things, and try use my reasoning, logic, and memory all to solve them as fast as possible. Like the "unblock me" game on iphones and androids, I finished it ha ha.
In general, you have to keep excercising your brain to burn new connections in your brains, because that's all you can really do.
That **** is hard! I dont know any coding though, more maths so i have no idea how to get any of those answers but i don't think you are meant to be able to get them in 10min!