Nootropics: An Evidence Map, Not a Category

Summary

"Nootropic" is a marketing umbrella, not an evidence category — and the honest map splits sharply: a **small handful of agents** produce real but **modest, state-dependent** effects (caffeine, caffeine+L-theanine, creatine in the sleep-deprived or vegetarian, modafinil as a genuine but prescription-only wakefulness drug), while the **large commercial market** (lion's mane, ginkgo, racetams, proprietary "smart-drug stacks," omega-3 sold as enhancement) ranges from thin-and-preliminary to weak-to-null in healthy people; the truthful framing is **deficiency-correction and acute task-state nudging