Wiktionary
n. 1 (context medicine English) Any substance purported to increase cognitive abilities. 2 (context pharmacology English) A drug that enhances learning and memory and lacks the usual pharmacology of other psychotropic drugs (e.g. sedation, motor stimulation) and possesses very few side effects and extremely low toxicity.
Wikipedia
Nootropics —also called smart drugs or cognitive enhancers—are drugs, supplements, or other substances that improve cognitive function, particularly executive functions, memory, creativity, or motivation, in healthy individuals. The use of cognition-enhancing drugs by healthy individuals in the absence of a medical indication is one of the most debated topics among neuroscientists, psychiatrists, and physicians which spans a number of issues, including the ethics and fairness of their use, concerns over adverse effects, and the diversion of prescription drugs for nonmedical uses, among others. Nonetheless, the international sales of cognition-enhancing supplements exceeded billion in 2015 and the global demand for these compounds is still growing rapidly.
The word nootropic was coined in 1972 by a Romanian psychologist and chemist, Corneliu E. Giurgea, from the Greek words νους nous, or "mind", and τρέπειν trepein meaning to bend or turn.
Usage examples of "nootropic".
He didn't know much about nootropics, stuff like deprynl, adrafinil, pro vigil shit like that, but Bobby did, and he knew how to tweak em for an immediate response.
Some called the drugs and electrical devices involved in this process nootropics, a word which Sax read as “acting upon mind.
Some called the drugs and electrical devices involved in this process nootropics, a word which Sax read as "acting upon mind.