Read a very fascinating account of smart drugs / nootropics via Hacker News this morning. Many are available over the counter, but some are not.
Ten years ago I went on a quest to become an expert on coffee and to sample as many different ways of making it and as many different varieties that existed. I tried everything from the French Press to the Coffee Siphon, Hawaiian Kona to Jamaican Blue Mountain. But unsatisfied with mere coffee, I went on a quest to find out how to use chemicals to enhance my mind. It had its roots in old high-school days when I'd bring a sixpack of Jolt cola to a computer-programming marathon: cramming together study halls and lunch breaks in my senior year. The nootropics of that era were caffeine, sugar, cortisol, dopamine, epinephrine and norepineprhine, and the last four in that list were all natural hormones my body was making itself.The first "smart drug" I heard about was Modafinil, which was described as a pill that could let you stay awake without fatigue for 48 hours, sleep for 8, and then repeat the experience again indefinitely. Modafinil can do that under the right circumstances, but it turns out that it was not a drug that would turn you into a superthinker overnight. "Moda" was to be just one of many substances I'd experience firsthand.
via sites.google.com
It goes on to describe 9 or 10 specific substances that can improve brain function, including Modafinil.
Quite a fascinating read though I also wonder how much of it is merely a ploy to get passive income via affiliate links. Sort of a mahalo.com with no middleman. I imagine especially for pharmaceutical-related queries the conversion rates given good SEO can be astronomical.