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We humans are obsessed with getting smarter.
我們?nèi)祟惓撩杂谧兊酶斆鳌?/div>
So besides your typical methods like school, hard work,
所以除了典型的方法，比如上學(xué)、努力學(xué)習(xí)之外，
we've also tried some pretty strange things in the name of brain enhancement.
我們還以增強(qiáng)大腦的名義嘗試了一些非常奇怪的東西。
For example, Nikola Tesla would supposedly squish his toes 100 times on each foot to stimulate the brain cells,
比如，尼古拉·特斯拉假定擠壓每只腳的腳趾100次來(lái)刺激腦細(xì)胞，
while Isaac Newton stuck with celibacy.
而艾薩克·牛頓則堅(jiān)持禁欲。
Or there is just like popping some kinda magic pill like Bradley Cooper does in Limitless.
或者就像布萊德利·庫(kù)珀在《永無(wú)止境》中所做的那樣，服用某種奇藥。
Nootropics are a group of chemicals that supposedly heighten things
益智藥是一類化學(xué)物質(zhì)，被認(rèn)為可以增強(qiáng)
like concentration, attention, and memory, without any side-effects.
專注度、注意力、記憶等，而且沒有任何副作用。
They're so-called "smart pills."
它們被稱為聰明藥。
Some of these drugs do seem to affect brain chemistry,
它們中的某些藥似乎確實(shí)能影響腦化學(xué)，
but scientists aren't sure if they have consistent, measurable effects yet.
但科學(xué)家們不確定它們是否重要的持續(xù)影響。
And because they're so experimental right now, taking them on a whim probably isn't worth the health risks.
而且因?yàn)樗鼈儸F(xiàn)在是試驗(yàn)性的，可能不值得冒健康風(fēng)險(xiǎn)一時(shí)興起服用它們。
Cognition doesn't just come from one part of the brain.
認(rèn)知不只來(lái)自大腦的一個(gè)部分。
It involves many regions, chemicals, and processes
它包括許多區(qū)域、化學(xué)物質(zhì)和化學(xué)過(guò)程，
like memory, perception, attention, and arousal, basically, when you're awake and alert.
比如記憶、感知、注意力和覺醒，這些主要發(fā)生在你清醒警覺的時(shí)候。
For instance, many studies on learning and memory formation in animal models involve the neurotransmitter glutamate.
例如，關(guān)于動(dòng)物模型中學(xué)習(xí)和記憶形成的許多研究都涉及到神經(jīng)遞質(zhì)谷氨酸。
It's the main excitatory chemical in the brain, which means it spurs neurons to send signals to each other.
它是大腦中主要的興奮性化學(xué)物質(zhì)，這意味著它刺激神經(jīng)元互相發(fā)送信號(hào)。
Neuroscientists have studied glutamate systems in the brain
神經(jīng)科學(xué)家研究了大腦中的谷氨酸系統(tǒng)，
and worked to create drugs that enhance memory-related performance in animals like rats and mice.
并致力于開發(fā)增強(qiáng)老鼠等動(dòng)物中有關(guān)記憶表現(xiàn)的藥物，
A lot of this research is aimed towards understanding the biochemistry of memory,
許多這類研究都是為了理解與記憶相關(guān)的生物化學(xué)，
and eventually helping treat patients with memory problems, like those with Alzheimer's disease.
最終幫助治療有記憶問(wèn)題的病人，比如那些患有阿爾茨海默氏癥的人。
But there's still a huge gap between rodent brains and human ones,
但嚙齒類動(dòng)物的大腦與人類大腦有很大區(qū)別，
so many clinical trials haven't been super effective.
所以許多臨床試驗(yàn)都不是很奏效。
And that's the case for lots of drugs that affect different pieces of cognition.
而且很多藥物會(huì)影響不同的認(rèn)知。
Yes, there are some stimulants that scientists have found to be safe and effective
是的，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)有些刺激劑是安全和有效的，
and doctors prescribe to treat ADHD, for example.
例如，醫(yī)生開得治療多動(dòng)癥的處方。
But there's a lot of uncertainty out there when it comes to altering brain function,
但在改變大腦功能方面還存在很多不確定性，
and there aren't silver bullets that work for everyone with a given neurological disorder.
而且它們不是患有某種神經(jīng)障礙的人們的治療良方。
Despite that uncertainty, nootropic proponents say that
盡管存在不確定性，益智藥支持者還是認(rèn)為
this wide variety of drugs can be used to improve different aspects of your normal brain function.
這種多變化的藥物仍可被用于提高正常大腦功能的不同方面。
Basically helping you, like, remember what you learned in class to get better grades or focus more at work.
它主要是幫助你，比如幫助你記憶課堂所學(xué)以獲得更好成績(jī)，或者更專注于工作。
The history of nootropics kind of began in 1964 with a Romanian chemist named Corneliu Giurgea.
益智藥的歷史開始于1964年，由一位名叫科尼劉·吉爾吉的羅馬尼亞化學(xué)家提出。
He wanted to make a brain-enhancing drug
他想要制造一種加強(qiáng)大腦功能的藥物，
and coined the term "nootropic" after synthesizing the first of its kind: piracetam.
并在合成第一種同類產(chǎn)品吡拉西坦后，創(chuàng)造了“益智藥”一詞。
Piracetam is a broad-acting drug, it interacts with a lot of different things in the brain.
吡拉西坦是一種廣效藥物，它與大腦中許多不同的物質(zhì)相互作用。
One of which is glutamate receptors, which we know play a role in learning and memory.
其中之一就是在學(xué)習(xí)和記憶中發(fā)揮作用的谷氨酸受體。
One of the earlier studies on this chemical was done in 1976.
1976年，關(guān)于吡拉西坦的一個(gè)早期研究完成了。
8 students from University College in Cardiff were given a daily dose of piracetam
卡迪夫大學(xué)的8名學(xué)生被給予日劑量的吡拉西坦，
and 8 were given a pill that did nothing.
還有8人被給予一粒沒有任何作用的藥丸。
They were all given a few memory tasks after 1 and 2 weeks.
在1周和2周后，他們都被分配了一些記憶任務(wù)。
And in the group that took piracetam,
在服用吡拉西坦的一組中，
the experimenters didn't see a difference in verbal memory after 1 week compared to the control group, but did after 2 weeks.
實(shí)驗(yàn)者1周后在言語(yǔ)記憶方面沒有表現(xiàn)出與對(duì)照組的不同來(lái)，但2周后表現(xiàn)出來(lái)了。
So there could be some mild effect, but without many replication studies,
所以吡拉西坦可能會(huì)有一些輕微影響，但由于沒有許多重復(fù)研究，
we don't know how much the drug actually helps with this kind of learning.
我們不知道這種藥對(duì)這種學(xué)習(xí)實(shí)際有多大幫助。
Some researchers have also tested whether piracetam could help fight memory loss from brain diseases,
一些研究人員也測(cè)試了吡拉西坦是否有助于對(duì)抗大腦疾病導(dǎo)致的記憶喪失，
or help protect the brain from losing function after certain kinds of major surgery.
或者在某些大型手術(shù)后幫助保護(hù)大腦避免喪失功能。
But there's been a mix of negative and positive results across years of studies,
但在多年的研究中，既有消極結(jié)果，也有積極結(jié)果，
so there definitely isn't enough evidence to say that it helps for sure.
所以還沒有足夠的證據(jù)表明它肯定有幫助。
And that's just the beginning when it comes to nootropics.
而且益智藥也只是開始。
Since piracetam, there have been dozens of drugs that people have taken to try and improve cognition in different ways.
自吡拉西坦誕生以來(lái)，人們已經(jīng)使用了幾十種藥物試圖以不同方式改善認(rèn)知。
Like there's modafinil, which is a wakefulness agent and FDA-approved treatment for narcolepsy,
比如莫達(dá)非尼，它是一種覺醒藥劑，是FDA批準(zhǔn)的治療嗜眠發(fā)作的方法，
a sleep disorder where you can fall asleep without warning.
嗜眠發(fā)作是一種睡眠障礙，你可以毫無(wú)預(yù)兆地入睡。
Kind of like piracetam, researchers think modafinil could affect a lot of chemical systems in the brain,
它有點(diǎn)兒像吡拉西坦，研究人員認(rèn)為莫達(dá)非尼可以影響大腦中的很多化學(xué)系統(tǒng)，
including transporters of dopamine, which is involved in alertness,
包括與警覺性有關(guān)的多巴胺轉(zhuǎn)運(yùn)蛋白，
and norepinephrine, which is involved in your stress responses and can give an energy boost.
以及與壓力反應(yīng)有關(guān)、增加能量的去甲腎上腺素。
So some people have tried using it as a general nootropic instead of a specific medical treatment.
所以一些人已經(jīng)試著將它作為普通的益智藥，而不是專門的藥物治療了。
A meta-analysis published in 2015 in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology pooled 24 study results
2015年發(fā)表在《歐洲神經(jīng)精神藥理學(xué)》雜志上的一項(xiàng)薈萃分析匯集了24項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果，
to try and figure out what the overall effect of the drug seems to be.
并嘗試著找出這種藥物的總體效果。
They concluded that modafinil can help healthy people with executive function,
他們總結(jié)稱，莫達(dá)非尼可以對(duì)健康人的執(zhí)行能力有幫助，
things like planning and decision making, but the effects on things like attention were mixed.
比如做計(jì)劃和決定，但對(duì)注意力等的影響很復(fù)雜。
Now, it's possible that any positive relationship between taking nootropics and cognition could be a placebo effect.
服用益智藥與認(rèn)知之間的任何積極關(guān)系都可能是安慰劑效應(yīng)。
That's when a drug doesn't really do anything, but your belief in it causes real change.
也就是藥物實(shí)際沒起作用，但你對(duì)它的相信導(dǎo)致了真實(shí)變化。
Maybe more importantly, though, there are some major health concerns
不過(guò)，更重要的是其中可能涉及到一些主要的健康問(wèn)題，
because of how much we don't know about these drugs.
因?yàn)槲覀儗?duì)這些藥物知之甚少。
Most nootropics are currently being sold without FDA approval under categories
現(xiàn)在售賣的大多數(shù)益智藥都沒有在FDA批準(zhǔn)的門類下，
like "dietary supplements" or "research chemicals,"
比如“膳食補(bǔ)充劑”或“研究化學(xué)試劑”
because there haven't been enough conclusive studies about them.
因?yàn)槿藗儗?duì)它們還沒有充足的結(jié)論性研究。
So there's not much accountability for how many nootropics are made and in what dosages,
所以對(duì)于制造的益智藥數(shù)量及其劑量，都沒有太多的問(wèn)責(zé)制，
and they can't be guaranteed safe.
它們不能被保證安全。
Which is kinda dangerous when you're messing with brain chemistry.
你妨礙腦化學(xué)可能有點(diǎn)兒危險(xiǎn)。
For instance, if you flood the brain with too much glutamate signaling and neurons get overstimulated,
例如，如果你的大腦充斥太多的谷氨酸信號(hào)，神經(jīng)元就會(huì)被過(guò)度刺激，
it can lead to pretty bad side effects like cell death and seizures.
這可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致非常糟糕的副作用，比如細(xì)胞死亡和癲癇等。
Plus, any kind of stimulant, which is what many nootropics are,
另外，任何一種刺激物，也就是很多益智藥，
can be addictive and cause major withdrawal and depression if used inappropriately.
如果使用不當(dāng)都可能會(huì)讓人成癮，引起嚴(yán)重的戒斷和抑郁。
And while some of these drugs might show positive effects on cognition and memory in the short term,
雖然其中一些藥物可能在短期內(nèi)對(duì)認(rèn)知和記憶產(chǎn)生積極影響，
we haven't studied long-term effects.
但我們還沒有研究它們的長(zhǎng)期效果。
So experimenting with nootropics is a risk right now.
因此，目前嘗試益智藥是一種風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
And, really, things like exercise, a good night's sleep, and a thoughtful diet
而且鍛煉、一夜好眠和周到的飲食等
are probably a much better place to start when it comes to a healthy brain.
對(duì)于一個(gè)健康的大腦來(lái)說(shuō)，可能是一個(gè)更好的起點(diǎn)。
Or, you could subscribe to SciShow Psych and get smarter with us twice a week!
或者你也可以訂閱心理科學(xué)秀，每周兩次和我們一起變得更聰明！
And if you want to learn more about when we started to use drugs to change our brains,
如果你想了解我們什么時(shí)候開始服用藥物改變大腦的更多內(nèi)容，
check out our video about how doctors accidentally discovered psychiatric drugs.
可以查看那期“醫(yī)生是如何偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)精神藥物的”視頻。
