Feel Smarter By This Time Tomorrow!

Need a sudden boost of brain power? There could be a pill for that...

- Eve Boggenpoel

Ever wished you had a sharper memory or were better at decision-making? Or maybe you’re tired of battling brain fog while wading through a complex report?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could inject a little oomph into your grey matter? Well, now you can. With a smart drug.

According to surveys, around 20 per cent of the population, from students to surgeons and scientists, have tried smart drugs – pharmaceutical pills designed to boost brain health and cognitive function. ‘My concentration improved, my memory sharpened and my cognitive skills expanded,’ says David Adam, author of new book The Genius Within (Picador, £16.99), after taking Modafinil, the most widely available smart drug. ‘I was less distracted and my productivity at work soared.’

So how do smart drugs actually work? ‘We don’t really know,’ says Adam. ‘The best guess is it affects the levels of neurotransmitters. What tends to happen is, when a new drug is developed, people report side effects and, in the case of smart drugs, “well” people take the drug specifically for these extra effects.’ Modafinil, for example, was originally prescribed for people with narcolepsy (excessive sleepiness), but after reports of increased concentration, it soon became the smart drug of choice.