Gwern.net — Nootropics & Self-Experiments

Creatine Cognition Meta-analysis · Gwern.net

Gwern — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Does creatine increase cognitive performance? Maybe for vegetarians but probably not.

Magnesium Self-Experiments · Gwern.net

Gwern — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

3 magnesium self-experiments on magnesium l-threonate and magnesium citrate.

Lithium in ground-water and well-being · Gwern.net

Gwern — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Lithium is a well-known mood stabilizer & suicide preventive; some research suggests lithium may be a cognitively-protective nutrient and at the population level, chronic lithium consumption (through drinking water) predicts lower levels of mental illness, violence, & suicide.

LSD microdosing RCT · Gwern.net

Gwern — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Self-experiment with sub-psychedelic doses of LSD; no benefit

Nootropics · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Notes on nootropics I tried, and my experiments

Modafinil community survey · Gwern.net

Gwern — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

2015 survey of online modafinil users asking about dosages, consumption patterns, ratings, purchases, and demographics

Modafinil · Gwern.net

Gwern — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Effects, health concerns, suppliers, prices & rational ordering.

The Algernon Argument · Gwern.net

Gwern — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Why most supplements fail: IQ improvement skepticism, Yudkowsky & Bostrom’s heuristics, nootropics

Bacopa Quasi-Experiment · Gwern.net

Gwern — Tue, 06 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

A small 2014–2015 non-blinded self-experiment using Bacopa monnieri to investigate effect on memory/sleep/self-ratings in an ABABA design; no particular effects were found.

Nicotine · Gwern.net

Gwern — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

On the benefits and lack of demerits of nicotine (research up to 2015)

2013 LLLT self-experiment · Gwern.net

Gwern — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

An LLLT user’s blinded randomized self-experiment in 2013 on the effects of near-infrared light on a simple cognitive test battery: positive results

Melatonin · Gwern.net

Gwern — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Melatonin improves sleep, & sleep is valuable

2014 Spirulina randomized self-experiment · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Spirulina users’ randomized trial on self-rated allergy symptoms: null result.