VICE has been putting together a “guide to self improvement“. Sam Nichols researched which smart drugs were mentioned most on the internet and then procured and tested the top five. While Sam credits the nootropics as working he was very disappointed with the side effects. The substances tested were Aniracetam, Oxiracetam, Huperzine A, Modafinil and Lion’s Mane.

Via VICE:

From this experiment, all I can really say I took is that nootropics are f***ed. The combination of mania, anxiety, overstimulation, loss of appetite, and sleep deprivation really took their toll. And frankly, I didn’t gain much. My IQ hovered around the same area and when I took my second MENSA test at the end of the week, I scored 22/30, which was an improvement of only one point. To my thinking, neither of those gains made the side effects worth it.