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We humans are obsessed with getting smarter.
我们人类沉迷于变得更聪明。
So besides your typical methods like school, hard work,
所以除了典型的方法，比如上学、努力学习之外，
we've also tried some pretty strange things in the name of brain enhancement.
我们还以增强大脑的名义尝试了一些非常奇怪的东西。
For example, Nikola Tesla would supposedly squish his toes 100 times on each foot to stimulate the brain cells,
比如，尼古拉·特斯拉假定挤压每只脚的脚趾100次来刺激脑细胞，
while Isaac Newton stuck with celibacy.
而艾萨克·牛顿则坚持禁欲。
Or there is just like popping some kinda magic pill like Bradley Cooper does in Limitless.
或者就像布莱德利·库珀在《永无止境》中所做的那样，服用某种奇药。
Nootropics are a group of chemicals that supposedly heighten things
益智药是一类化学物质，被认为可以增强
like concentration, attention, and memory, without any side-effects.
专注度、注意力、记忆等，而且没有任何副作用。
They're so-called "smart pills."
它们被称为聪明药。
Some of these drugs do seem to affect brain chemistry,
它们中的某些药似乎确实能影响脑化学，
but scientists aren't sure if they have consistent, measurable effects yet.
但科学家们不确定它们是否重要的持续影响。
And because they're so experimental right now, taking them on a whim probably isn't worth the health risks.
而且因为它们现在是试验性的，可能不值得冒健康风险一时兴起服用它们。
Cognition doesn't just come from one part of the brain.
认知不只来自大脑的一个部分。
It involves many regions, chemicals, and processes
它包括许多区域、化学物质和化学过程，
like memory, perception, attention, and arousal, basically, when you're awake and alert.
比如记忆、感知、注意力和觉醒，这些主要发生在你清醒警觉的时候。
For instance, many studies on learning and memory formation in animal models involve the neurotransmitter glutamate.
例如，关于动物模型中学习和记忆形成的许多研究都涉及到神经递质谷氨酸。
It's the main excitatory chemical in the brain, which means it spurs neurons to send signals to each other.
它是大脑中主要的兴奋性化学物质，这意味着它刺激神经元互相发送信号。
Neuroscientists have studied glutamate systems in the brain
神经科学家研究了大脑中的谷氨酸系统，
and worked to create drugs that enhance memory-related performance in animals like rats and mice.
并致力于开发增强老鼠等动物中有关记忆表现的药物，
A lot of this research is aimed towards understanding the biochemistry of memory,
许多这类研究都是为了理解与记忆相关的生物化学，
and eventually helping treat patients with memory problems, like those with Alzheimer's disease.
最终帮助治疗有记忆问题的病人，比如那些患有阿尔茨海默氏症的人。
But there's still a huge gap between rodent brains and human ones,
但啮齿类动物的大脑与人类大脑有很大区别，
so many clinical trials haven't been super effective.
所以许多临床试验都不是很奏效。
And that's the case for lots of drugs that affect different pieces of cognition.
而且很多药物会影响不同的认知。
Yes, there are some stimulants that scientists have found to be safe and effective
是的，科学家们发现有些刺激剂是安全和有效的，
and doctors prescribe to treat ADHD, for example.
例如，医生开得治疗多动症的处方。
But there's a lot of uncertainty out there when it comes to altering brain function,
但在改变大脑功能方面还存在很多不确定性，
and there aren't silver bullets that work for everyone with a given neurological disorder.
而且它们不是患有某种神经障碍的人们的治疗良方。
Despite that uncertainty, nootropic proponents say that
尽管存在不确定性，益智药支持者还是认为
this wide variety of drugs can be used to improve different aspects of your normal brain function.
这种多变化的药物仍可被用于提高正常大脑功能的不同方面。
Basically helping you, like, remember what you learned in class to get better grades or focus more at work.
它主要是帮助你，比如帮助你记忆课堂所学以获得更好成绩，或者更专注于工作。
The history of nootropics kind of began in 1964 with a Romanian chemist named Corneliu Giurgea.
益智药的历史开始于1964年，由一位名叫科尼刘·吉尔吉的罗马尼亚化学家提出。
He wanted to make a brain-enhancing drug
他想要制造一种加强大脑功能的药物，
and coined the term "nootropic" after synthesizing the first of its kind: piracetam.
并在合成第一种同类产品吡拉西坦后，创造了“益智药”一词。
Piracetam is a broad-acting drug, it interacts with a lot of different things in the brain.
吡拉西坦是一种广效药物，它与大脑中许多不同的物质相互作用。
One of which is glutamate receptors, which we know play a role in learning and memory.
其中之一就是在学习和记忆中发挥作用的谷氨酸受体。
One of the earlier studies on this chemical was done in 1976.
1976年，关于吡拉西坦的一个早期研究完成了。
8 students from University College in Cardiff were given a daily dose of piracetam
卡迪夫大学的8名学生被给予日剂量的吡拉西坦，
and 8 were given a pill that did nothing.
还有8人被给予一粒没有任何作用的药丸。
They were all given a few memory tasks after 1 and 2 weeks.
在1周和2周后，他们都被分配了一些记忆任务。
And in the group that took piracetam,
在服用吡拉西坦的一组中，
the experimenters didn't see a difference in verbal memory after 1 week compared to the control group, but did after 2 weeks.
实验者1周后在言语记忆方面没有表现出与对照组的不同来，但2周后表现出来了。
So there could be some mild effect, but without many replication studies,
所以吡拉西坦可能会有一些轻微影响，但由于没有许多重复研究，
we don't know how much the drug actually helps with this kind of learning.
我们不知道这种药对这种学习实际有多大帮助。
Some researchers have also tested whether piracetam could help fight memory loss from brain diseases,
一些研究人员也测试了吡拉西坦是否有助于对抗大脑疾病导致的记忆丧失，
or help protect the brain from losing function after certain kinds of major surgery.
或者在某些大型手术后帮助保护大脑避免丧失功能。
But there's been a mix of negative and positive results across years of studies,
但在多年的研究中，既有消极结果，也有积极结果，
so there definitely isn't enough evidence to say that it helps for sure.
所以还没有足够的证据表明它肯定有帮助。
And that's just the beginning when it comes to nootropics.
而且益智药也只是开始。
Since piracetam, there have been dozens of drugs that people have taken to try and improve cognition in different ways.
自吡拉西坦诞生以来，人们已经使用了几十种药物试图以不同方式改善认知。
Like there's modafinil, which is a wakefulness agent and FDA-approved treatment for narcolepsy,
比如莫达非尼，它是一种觉醒药剂，是FDA批准的治疗嗜眠发作的方法，
a sleep disorder where you can fall asleep without warning.
嗜眠发作是一种睡眠障碍，你可以毫无预兆地入睡。
Kind of like piracetam, researchers think modafinil could affect a lot of chemical systems in the brain,
它有点儿像吡拉西坦，研究人员认为莫达非尼可以影响大脑中的很多化学系统，
including transporters of dopamine, which is involved in alertness,
包括与警觉性有关的多巴胺转运蛋白，
and norepinephrine, which is involved in your stress responses and can give an energy boost.
以及与压力反应有关、增加能量的去甲肾上腺素。
So some people have tried using it as a general nootropic instead of a specific medical treatment.
所以一些人已经试着将它作为普通的益智药，而不是专门的药物治疗了。
A meta-analysis published in 2015 in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology pooled 24 study results
2015年发表在《欧洲神经精神药理学》杂志上的一项荟萃分析汇集了24项研究结果，
to try and figure out what the overall effect of the drug seems to be.
并尝试着找出这种药物的总体效果。
They concluded that modafinil can help healthy people with executive function,
他们总结称，莫达非尼可以对健康人的执行能力有帮助，
things like planning and decision making, but the effects on things like attention were mixed.
比如做计划和决定，但对注意力等的影响很复杂。
Now, it's possible that any positive relationship between taking nootropics and cognition could be a placebo effect.
服用益智药与认知之间的任何积极关系都可能是安慰剂效应。
That's when a drug doesn't really do anything, but your belief in it causes real change.
也就是药物实际没起作用，但你对它的相信导致了真实变化。
Maybe more importantly, though, there are some major health concerns
不过，更重要的是其中可能涉及到一些主要的健康问题，
because of how much we don't know about these drugs.
因为我们对这些药物知之甚少。
Most nootropics are currently being sold without FDA approval under categories
现在售卖的大多数益智药都没有在FDA批准的门类下，
like "dietary supplements" or "research chemicals,"
比如“膳食补充剂”或“研究化学试剂”
because there haven't been enough conclusive studies about them.
因为人们对它们还没有充足的结论性研究。
So there's not much accountability for how many nootropics are made and in what dosages,
所以对于制造的益智药数量及其剂量，都没有太多的问责制，
and they can't be guaranteed safe.
它们不能被保证安全。
Which is kinda dangerous when you're messing with brain chemistry.
你妨碍脑化学可能有点儿危险。
For instance, if you flood the brain with too much glutamate signaling and neurons get overstimulated,
例如，如果你的大脑充斥太多的谷氨酸信号，神经元就会被过度刺激，
it can lead to pretty bad side effects like cell death and seizures.
这可能会导致非常糟糕的副作用，比如细胞死亡和癫痫等。
Plus, any kind of stimulant, which is what many nootropics are,
另外，任何一种刺激物，也就是很多益智药，
can be addictive and cause major withdrawal and depression if used inappropriately.
如果使用不当都可能会让人成瘾，引起严重的戒断和抑郁。
And while some of these drugs might show positive effects on cognition and memory in the short term,
虽然其中一些药物可能在短期内对认知和记忆产生积极影响，
we haven't studied long-term effects.
但我们还没有研究它们的长期效果。
So experimenting with nootropics is a risk right now.
因此，目前尝试益智药是一种风险。
And, really, things like exercise, a good night's sleep, and a thoughtful diet
而且锻炼、一夜好眠和周到的饮食等
are probably a much better place to start when it comes to a healthy brain.
对于一个健康的大脑来说，可能是一个更好的起点。
Or, you could subscribe to SciShow Psych and get smarter with us twice a week!
或者你也可以订阅心理科学秀，每周两次和我们一起变得更聪明！
And if you want to learn more about when we started to use drugs to change our brains,
如果你想了解我们什么时候开始服用药物改变大脑的更多内容，
check out our video about how doctors accidentally discovered psychiatric drugs.
可以查看那期“医生是如何偶然发现精神药物的”视频。
