The history of nootropics: from ancient herbs to today

What does "nootropic" mean?

"Nootropic" comes from two Greek words: nous, the mind, and trepein, to turn. The Romanian scientist Corneliu Giurgea coined it in 1972 to describe a new kind of drug, piracetam [1, 2].

Giurgea set a high bar. A nootropic had to do all of these [1, 2]:

• Improve learning and memory.
• Help memory hold up under stress on the brain, such as a lack of oxygen.
• Protect the brain from physical or chemical harm.
• Improve the brain's control over its own activity.
• Have very few side effects, without the sedation or stimulation of other brain drugs.

By that strict test, caffeine wouldn't count, because it's a stimulant. Today the word is used far more loosely, for any supplement taken to support focus, memory, mood or calm.

A short timeline of nootropics

The story runs from ancient medical systems to modern labs. These are the key moments.

How did ancient cultures sharpen the mind?

With plants, used as part of whole systems of medicine rather than as single pills. Several of those plants are still studied today.

Ayurveda: herbs for the intellect

Ayurveda, India's traditional medicine, has a group of herbs called medhya rasayana. Medhya means intellect and rasayana means renewal [3]. The classic text, the Charaka Samhita, names four: mandukaparni, liquorice, guduchi and shankhapushpi.

The best known today is brahmi, usually taken to be bacopa (Bacopa monnieri). In a 12-week trial in healthy adults, 300 mg of bacopa a day improved learning and the speed of taking in information, compared with a placebo [10].

A review of 9 trials with 518 people found faster attention after at least 12 weeks Moderate [11]. Other herbs for the mind in Ayurveda include vacha (Acorus calamus), jatamansi and haritaki. Ayurveda also prizes ashwagandha as a rasayana; our ashwagandha guide covers its research.

China and Japan: ginseng, ginkgo and lion's mane

Chinese herbal medicine has valued ginseng (Panax ginseng) for centuries as a tonic. Polygala root (yuan zhi) was given for forgetfulness, and reishi mushroom to calm the spirit. Ginkgo appears in Chinese herbals too, though they mainly describe its seeds [5]. The ginkgo leaf extracts sold today were developed in 20th-century Germany.

Lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a mushroom eaten and used in China and Japan, where it's called yamabushitake. Scientists are now testing it for focus Early. In 41 young adults, one 1.8 g dose sped up an attention test [12]. Read more in our lion's mane guide.

Egypt and the ancient Near East: medicine and ritual

The Ebers Papyrus, written in Egypt around 1550 BC, is one of the oldest medical texts we have. It lists hundreds of remedies, including opium poppy as a painkiller and sedative.

Not every ancient mind plant was about sharpness. Blue lotus in Egypt, mandrake in the Near East and fly agaric mushroom in Siberia were used for ritual and altered states. Several are toxic, which is why none of them became a nootropic.

Greece and Rome: pharmakon and rosemary

The Greeks had one word, pharmakon, for both remedy and poison. The same plant could heal or harm depending on the dose, an idea that still holds for every supplement today.

Some scholars think the kykeon, the drink at the heart of the Eleusinian Mysteries, contained ergot, a fungus with mind-altering compounds. It's an interesting theory, but historians still debate it.

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) has been linked with memory since ancient times, which is why Shakespeare's Ophelia says "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance". It's one of the few traditions tested directly.

In a trial of 28 older adults, 750 mg of dried rosemary, about a culinary amount, sped up memory. A dose of 6,000 mg slowed it down [13]. More isn't always better.

Northern Europe: rhodiola, the golden root

Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) grows in cold, high places and was used in folk medicine in Scandinavia and Russia for tiredness [4]. You'll often read that Vikings took it before battle. That's a good story, but no historical record backs it.

Modern trials on mental tiredness are Mixed: 3 of 5 found a benefit, and all had design flaws [14].

Tea, coffee and khat: the first everyday stimulants

Tea has been drunk in China for well over a thousand years. Zen monks valued it for keeping them alert through long meditation, and in 1211 the Japanese monk Eisai wrote a book praising it. In 1949, Japanese scientists found the reason tea feels calmer than coffee: an amino acid they named L-theanine.

Coffee comes from Ethiopia, but it was first brewed as a drink in Yemen in the 1400s. Sufis drank it to stay alert through night-long prayers, and coffee houses soon spread across the Middle East and Europe.

Khat (Catha edulis) has been chewed for centuries in Yemen and the Horn of Africa, at social gatherings and for long working days. Its stimulant, cathinone, raises alertness but also heart rate and blood pressure, and heavy use harms sleep and mental health. The UK banned khat in 2014.

Caffeine is now the world's most widely used focus aid, and it reliably improves alertness and reaction time Strong [15]. Paired with L-theanine, the two compounds in a cup of tea, it improves attention too [16].

How was the first nootropic discovered?

Piracetam was first made in 1964 at UCB, a Belgian drug company, where Giurgea led the research [2]. In animal tests it seemed to help learning, without the sedation or stimulation of other brain drugs.

That unusual profile led Giurgea to create a new category, and in 1972 he called it "nootropic" [1]. Similar drugs followed, known as racetams, including aniracetam and oxiracetam.

Piracetam didn't become the memory pill many hoped for. A 2001 Cochrane review found the evidence didn't support it for memory problems in older people [17]. In the UK it's a prescription medicine, used for a rare movement disorder.

What other brain drugs came out of the 20th century?

Piracetam wasn't alone. From the 1940s to the 1980s, drug companies in Europe and the US developed a run of similar medicines. Most aimed to support memory and blood flow to the brain in older people.

Most were tested in people with memory problems rather than healthy adults, and good evidence in healthy people is thin. Most are medicines, and some are still prescribed in parts of Europe.

Where did the idea of adaptogens come from?

From Soviet research in the mid-20th century. Scientists looked for plants that could help the body handle stress, such as cold, hard work or long shifts.

In 1969, Israel Brekhman and Igor Dardymov described these "adaptogens" for a Western audience. They set out three tests: an adaptogen should be harmless, raise general resistance to stress, and help the body return to balance [6].

Rhodiola and eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus) were early favourites. Today ashwagandha is the most researched adaptogen, with dozens of human trials on sleep and stress.

From smart drugs to everyday supplements

In the 1990s and 2000s, "smart drugs" became a talking point. Some students and professionals used prescription medicines, such as modafinil, to stay alert.

A 2008 online poll by the journal Nature drew about 1,400 replies. One in five said they had taken drugs for focus, concentration or memory without a medical reason [7]. In the UK these medicines are prescription-only, and using them without a doctor carries real risks.

The 2011 film Limitless, about a pill that unlocks the whole brain, turned "smart pills" into a household idea. The film was fiction: no pill does that.

Since then, interest has moved towards natural options: plant extracts, vitamins and minerals. They're sold as food supplements, which have to meet food safety rules.

What counts as a nootropic today?

In the UK, most products sold as nootropics are food supplements made from plant extracts, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Common ones include caffeine, L-theanine, ashwagandha, bacopa, lion's mane, rhodiola and ginkgo.

Since 2012, food supplements can only make health claims from an approved list [8]. Several nutrients have approved claims about the mind. For example, magnesium contributes to normal psychological function, and pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) to normal mental performance.

The research is getting better too. In 2024, three large trials covered 5,203 adults aged 60 and over. A daily multivitamin kept memory and thinking sharper over 2 to 3 years, equal to about 2 years less ageing Strong [9]. Newer trials of plant extracts test named extracts at fixed doses in healthy adults, so results are easier to compare. If you'd like to combine nootropics, see our beginner's guide to nootropic stacks.

What can history teach a nootropic user today?

Thousands of years of trying to sharpen the mind point to a few clear lessons:

• Dose matters. Rosemary helped memory at a small dose and hurt it at a large one [13]. Take the amounts used in studies, not more.
• Tradition is a starting point. Long use tells researchers where to look. Trials show what actually works, and for whom.
• Stories aren't evidence. The Viking rhodiola legend is fun, but it doesn't tell you what a capsule will do.
• Medicines aren't supplements. Drug-like nootropics such as racetams and modafinil carry risks that plant extracts don't.
• The basics come first. Every tradition here paired its herbs with sleep, food and daily routine.

Where Nooroots fits

Nooroots brings together two of these traditions. Ashwagandha + Lion's Mane pairs KSM-66 ashwagandha, a root prized in Ayurveda, with lion's mane, a mushroom from East Asian kitchens and medicine.

Each serving is 120 mg of KSM-66 ashwagandha and 500 mg of lion's mane extract, in two caffeine-free capsules, for calm focus on demanding days.

Frequently asked questions

What does nootropic mean?

It means "mind-turning", from the Greek nous (mind) and trepein (to turn). Today it describes supplements and other compounds taken to support focus, memory or calm.

Who invented nootropics?

Corneliu Giurgea, a Romanian scientist working in Belgium, coined the word in 1972. His team at UCB had first made piracetam in 1964 [1, 2].

What was the first nootropic?

Piracetam was the first drug to be called a nootropic. People had used plants such as bacopa, tea and coffee for mental sharpness for centuries before.

Do nootropics work?

Some do, for specific things. Caffeine reliably improves alertness, and a daily multivitamin kept older adults' memory sharper in large trials [15, 9]. Many others have little research, so check the evidence for each one.

Is caffeine a nootropic?

Not by Giurgea's original definition, because it's a stimulant. In everyday use, though, caffeine is the world's most common focus aid.

Are nootropics legal in the UK?

Natural nootropics sold as food supplements, such as ashwagandha or L-theanine, are legal. Drug-like nootropics such as piracetam and modafinil are prescription medicines and can't be sold as supplements.

What is the difference between nootropics and adaptogens?

Nootropics are taken for the mind: focus, memory or calm. Adaptogens are plants thought to help the body handle stress, such as ashwagandha and rhodiola. Some, like ashwagandha, are called both [6].

What are natural nootropics?

Plant extracts, mushrooms, amino acids and nutrients taken for focus, memory or calm. Examples include bacopa, ashwagandha, lion's mane and L-theanine.

Read more in our guides to ashwagandha, lion's mane and nootropic stacks.

References

Every source here is listed so you can read it yourself. This guide is for general information and doesn't replace advice from your GP or pharmacist. We review it when new research is published.

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