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Nootropics - Smart Drugs
Psychedelic drugs are said to "expand your mind," but we need to be careful with imprecise language. Expanding your mind sounds like getting smarter, but there is another class of chemicals which are better suited for increasing your actual working memory. Working memory is that part of your thought machine which allows you to manipulate ideas and images in your head, right now, in real-time. For example, when someone tells you a telephone number, you may be able to repeat the number over in your mind until you get to type the number into your phone, and you can do this for a good length of time if something in the environment does not interrupt you. This ability of working-memory is known as the phonological loop. Similarly, we may be able to picture something in the mind's-eye, like a cube, and we can manipulate the image - such as spinning the cube around to count its sides - rather than have to draw the picture out onto paper. This feature of working-memory is known as the visual-spatial sketchpad. Working memory has limitations, and it is usually stated that we can hold about 7 chunks of information in working memory at any one time. There are many variables affecting working memory, including wakefulness, task importance, familiarity with the task, and demands on your attention (both external - like keeping an eye on the road while driving, and internal - like hunger). Some people are particularly adept at performing certain tasks in their working memory, such as great mathematicians who can manipulate numbers with complicated formulas in their head. Other people may have difficulty with using one or more of their memory systems. It has long been known that certain herbs and foods can improve thinking. Nootropics are those chemicals which are purported to enhance memory and thought, and this may also include your access to long-term memories.
Lucid Dreaming Requires Enhanced Working Memory
Remember: You need two things to achieve lucidity - an enhanced dream system, and, a critical outlook while in that enhanced dream system. Anything that enlarges your working-memory capacity is likely to have a positive effect on your critical thinking potential, and may even enhance your dream generation system. Dreams become more vivid when we spend our waking time engaged in challenging problem-solving activities that are important to us. Whether we call waking challenges "threats" or just "problems," working at solving these issues activates our working memory - this translate into a heightened simulation system in dreams.
AND, many nootropics do not directly stimulate your sympathetic nervous system, as would say, coffee. So you may feel smarter, without feeling jittery and compulsive. Seems like the perfect thing for lucid dream induction, huh? Let's go over a few of the more well-known nootropics: |
The Racetams
The first racetam - Piracetam - ushered in the age of nootropics. There are many racetams which have been synthesized since the discovery of Piracetam in the mid-1960's. The action of how racetams work is not well-understood.
The affect of racetams on cognitive function is enhanced by taking a choline supplement concurrently; this also helps to prevent the foggy-headedness that some users experience once a racetam's effects have worn off. Piracetam itself is not useful for inducing lucid dreams, directly. Every time I have combined piracetam with other supplements, trying to induce lucidity, I found that I couldn't remember any dreams the next morning. However, piracetam and the other racetams do seem to be generally good for your brain health and help to "re-set" your head after nights of using supplements to become lucid.
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AChE-Inhibitors
Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors slowdown your body's ability to break-down some of your thinking-juice in the brain. They're a double-negative: stop the normal breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine by the enzymes which normally do this breaking-down. Interestingly, the neurotransmitter which these drugs protect has a stimulating effect in the central and peripheral nervous systems, yet a sedating effect when acting directly on heart tissue .
Benefits: AChE-I drugs are legal and readily available. Two well known AChE-I's are Galantamine and Huperzine A - both used (successfully or not) by many lucid dreamers for induction. Combined with the Wake-Back-To-Bed method of lucid dream induction, taking galantamine can greatly increase your odds of success. Draw-Backs: At least in the case of large Galantamine doses, bad headaches can result. This might seem like a fair-enough price for lucidity, but the head pain can be serious. The likelihood of this can be diminished by taking choline simultaneously, one of the raw materials your body uses to manufacture fresh supplies of acetylcholine. And it appears that Huperzine-A actually inhibits dream recall, and although much cheaper than galantamine does not support the direct potentiation of lucid dreaming. |
Modafinil
While this borders between a nootropic and a stimulant, modafinil is not jitter-producing nor likely to cause addiction.
Modafinil is said to resemble-in-action the mythical drug NZT-48 in the movie Limitless (this is far from accurate, but this eugeroic, or wakefulness-enhancing drug is never-the-less remarkable for many users). My self-experimentation with Modafinil and Armodafinil is being recorded on this FaceBook page. |
How To Use Nootropics For Lucid Living
First thing to remember is that many drugs/supplements considered as nootropics are also mild stimulants and can interfere with your ability to fall asleep.
The most consistently successful nootropic for lucid dream induction is Galantamine. Although many people suspected that Huperzine A would work similarly to Galantamine for lucidity induction, turns out that their respective actions are not quite the same. Huperzine A seems to inhibit dream recall, although taking this supplement several hours before sleep may have a REM-Rebound effect. When taking them together combined with the Wake-Back-To-Bed technique, Huperzine A even seems to block the action of Galantamine on inducing lucid dreams.
If you are interested in not only lucid dreaming, but also bringing "lucidity" into your waking life, you may have considering taking nootropic supplements to boost your brain performance. But even before that, attempt to optimize the foundational aspects of your daily routine: nutrition, exercise, relationships, "following your bliss" (this has to do with employment and hobbies), and rest. Do not jump toward any drugs or supplements as a band-aid for poor lifestyle choices. If you are drinking too much alcohol, smoking too many cigarettes or wacky-tobaccy, or using any drugs, people, situations as a crutch to avoid important issues, you know what you've got to do. If you are going to be addicted to something, get addicted to becoming the best version of yourself and helping others do the same. Nootropics, like vitamin and mineral pills, are SUPPLEMENTS. They should not be the base on which you depend when it comes to performance.
A great start for perking up is already familiar to you - coffee and tea. Coffee is the most popular drug in the world because 1. It works, and 2. It's not that bad for you. Since many of us already enjoy coffee, I recommend looking for nootropics and nootropic stacks that do not contain caffeine. And if you do drink coffee, have you discovered the blending of "grass-fed" butter into your coffee. This is a technique popularized by Dave Asprey, and it is amazing.
The most consistently successful nootropic for lucid dream induction is Galantamine. Although many people suspected that Huperzine A would work similarly to Galantamine for lucidity induction, turns out that their respective actions are not quite the same. Huperzine A seems to inhibit dream recall, although taking this supplement several hours before sleep may have a REM-Rebound effect. When taking them together combined with the Wake-Back-To-Bed technique, Huperzine A even seems to block the action of Galantamine on inducing lucid dreams.
If you are interested in not only lucid dreaming, but also bringing "lucidity" into your waking life, you may have considering taking nootropic supplements to boost your brain performance. But even before that, attempt to optimize the foundational aspects of your daily routine: nutrition, exercise, relationships, "following your bliss" (this has to do with employment and hobbies), and rest. Do not jump toward any drugs or supplements as a band-aid for poor lifestyle choices. If you are drinking too much alcohol, smoking too many cigarettes or wacky-tobaccy, or using any drugs, people, situations as a crutch to avoid important issues, you know what you've got to do. If you are going to be addicted to something, get addicted to becoming the best version of yourself and helping others do the same. Nootropics, like vitamin and mineral pills, are SUPPLEMENTS. They should not be the base on which you depend when it comes to performance.
A great start for perking up is already familiar to you - coffee and tea. Coffee is the most popular drug in the world because 1. It works, and 2. It's not that bad for you. Since many of us already enjoy coffee, I recommend looking for nootropics and nootropic stacks that do not contain caffeine. And if you do drink coffee, have you discovered the blending of "grass-fed" butter into your coffee. This is a technique popularized by Dave Asprey, and it is amazing.
Actually, Many "Nootropic" Formulas Rely On Caffeine...
We already know that caffeine can increase physical energy for those who tolerate it well, but this does not automatically help in our quest to "wake up" all, or even most of our cognitive circuits. Luckily, many choices in life do not have to be either-or. We can have "both-and." Coffee mixes well with many nootropics. I prefer whole-bean, high-quality coffee over "energy drinks" like Red Bull and Monster because these drinks have lots of stuff I don't want added into them (whether it's sugar, fake-sugar, or other artificial chemicals) and because I enjoy the taste of coffee and caffeine is probably better when combined with the other molecules inherent in coffee. So enjoy your coffee or tea, and avoid nootropics that rely on caffeine for their effect.
But I Like Coffee...
It seems that coffee is generally healthy for you if you tolerate it well and drink better quality brands. Coffee works well as a stand-alone energy boost. When made as butter-coffee (The Dave Asprey popularized "Bullerproof Coffee" style of preparation), your cup of joe can be a nice addition to your nootropic supplements. Some nootropics, like sulbutiamine, are absorbed better when taken along with a fat source.
What about AlphaBrain from Onnit.com?
AlphaBrain, the nootropic stack popularized by Joe Rogan and an ambitious marketing campaign is turning the world onto the idea of smart drugs. To get an honest review of AlphaBrain and Alpha Brain alternatives, check out my thoughts:
As for the advertising claiming that AlphaBrain can help instigate vivid and even lucid dreams, there may be something to this. AlphaBrain would likely inhibit REM-Sleep (and dreaming) if taken acutely for dream enhancement (as with the Wake-Back-To-Bed method of lucid dream induction), but if taken well in advance can lead to a REM-Rebound effect (and to the credit of Onnit Labs, they do recommend that AlphaBrain be taken several hours before sleep to trigger vivid dreaming).
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Beyond Nootropics - Psychedelic Chemicals
What if you want to go beyond a clear-mind and look at things from a completely new perspective?...