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Brain, memory and mood

Is there anything real for memory and focus?

The category with the widest gap between what is claimed and what has been measured in people. Several compounds here have genuine human trials. Several have a dish and a press release.

30 compounds studied for this · 6 with three or more human studies cited · 8 with none

Three or more human studies cited 6

The deepest human evidence on this site for this goal. That is a statement about how much has been measured, not about whether it will work for you.

One or two human studies cited 16

Something has been run in people, and it is a thin base. The count is on each card so you can see exactly how thin.

Oxytocin

2 cited

A natural hormone that is FDA-approved for labor and is also studied, with mixed results, for social, bonding, and psych...

Hormone

Davunetide

2 cited

A neuroprotective peptide fragment studied in humans for neurodegenerative disease, with a failed pivotal trial but ongo...

Nootropic & CNS

GlyNAC

2 cited

A combination of glycine and NAC studied in older adults for restoring glutathione and improving multiple markers of agi...

Antioxidant

Remternetug

2 cited

Lilly's next-generation, self-injected successor to donanemab designed for at-home injection, with a Phase 3 that comple...

Nootropic & CNS

Buntanetap

2 cited

An oral drug that lowers production of amyloid, tau and alpha-synuclein at once, now in an 850-patient Alzheimer's Phase...

Nootropic & CNS

NNZ-2591

2 cited

An oral IGF-1 metabolite mimic from the makers of trofinetide (Daybue), in the first-ever Phase 3 for Phelan-McDermid sy...

Nootropic & CNS

Semax

1 cited

A synthetic heptapeptide approved in Russia for stroke and cognitive disorders, studied for BDNF-driven neuroprotection.

Nootropic & CNS

Selank

1 cited

A synthetic anxiolytic peptide developed in Russia, studied for anxiety and mild cognitive effects without sedation.

Nootropic & CNS

Cerebrolysin

1 cited

A standardized mixture of neuropeptides used clinically in many countries for stroke, dementia, and TBI.

Nootropic & CNS

Noopept

1 cited

A proline-containing dipeptide nootropic approved in Russia, studied for mild cognitive impairment and neuroprotection.

Nootropic & CNS

Cortexin

1 cited

A mixture of low-molecular-weight brain peptides used in Russia for stroke, brain injury, and cognitive disorders.

Nootropic & CNS

Pinealon

1 cited

A short synthetic peptide bioregulator from the Khavinson group studied for brain protection and cognition.

Nootropic & CNS

Spermidine

1 cited

A natural polyamine that induces autophagy, linked in population studies to lower mortality and studied for cardiovascul...

Longevity

RTR242

1 cited

The first clinical drug from Retro Biosciences, the Sam Altman-backed longevity company: an oral, brain-penetrant molecu...

Nootropic & CNS

Orexin-A

1 cited

The wakefulness neuropeptide, sold as a nasal spray for alertness after a primate study showed intranasal delivery rever...

Nootropic & CNS

N-Acetyl Semax Amidate

1 cited

A terminally modified analog of Semax sold as a more stable, longer-acting nasal spray; no published study of the amidat...

Nootropic & CNS

No human study cited here 8

Studied in other species or in cell culture, or studied in people for something else entirely. Listed rather than hidden, because knowing a thing has not been tested in a person is the useful part.

Fasting worth reading alongside this

What the number counts, exactly

The figure on each card is the number of citations on that compound’s page whose study type is Human. It is counted the same mechanical way for all 192 compounds and you can check any of it by opening the profile and reading the citation list, which is the whole point of publishing a number at all.

It is a count of what we cite, not a claim about how much research exists. A compound with three human studies here may have thirty in the literature, and the honest thing to say is that we have read and listed three. It is also not a quality score: three small open-label studies count the same as three randomised trials, so the tiers tell you how much was measured in people and the page itself tells you how well.

Other goals