Articles & Guides

Evidence-led articles on focus, nootropic ingredients, and cognitive performance. A qualified doctor reviews every article — see our medical reviewer.

• Caffeine Anhydrous: What It Is, How It Works, Safe Doses
  Caffeine anhydrous is dehydrated caffeine, the same molecule as in coffee. What it does for focus, safe doses, and where the risks start, with primary sources.
• Choline Benefits: What the Evidence Actually Shows
  Choline feeds memory chemistry, cell membranes and liver fat processing. See the studied benefits of choline, how much you need and the foods that supply it.
• Citicoline Benefits: What the Clinical Trials Actually Show
  What citicoline actually does for memory, attention, and brain energy: doses from clinical trials, honest limits of the evidence, and safety, with sources.
• Citicoline vs Alpha-GPC: Which Should You Take?
  Citicoline and alpha-GPC compared head to head: choline content, mechanisms, the human trials behind each one, doses, and safety, all cited to primary sources.
• Dopamine Supplements: Which Ones Have Evidence Behind Them?
  Which supplements actually support dopamine production? L-tyrosine, B6, citicoline, and others reviewed against human and preclinical evidence.
• How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your System?
  Caffeine has a half-life of about 5 hours, so half of your last dose is still working long after the lift fades. What that means for focus and sleep.
• How to Get Rid of Brain Fog: Causes and Fixes That Work
  Brain fog usually has a findable cause. What short sleep, stress, dehydration, and diet do to your focus, and the fixes with real evidence behind them.
• How to Improve Focus: What the Evidence Actually Supports
  Attention research points to a few levers that reliably improve focus. Task switching, phones, sleep, exercise and caffeine, with the studies behind each one.
• How to Improve Memory: What Actually Works
  Memory improves with a handful of methods that have trial evidence behind them. Sleep, exercise, retrieval practice and diet, with the study behind each one.
• How to Increase Acetylcholine: What the Evidence Shows
  The brain builds acetylcholine from choline, and nine in ten adults eat too little. What food and supplements do to it, and how exercise and sleep change it.
• How to Increase Dopamine: What Actually Works
  Dopamine is the brain’s motivation signal. What protein, sleep, exercise, sunlight, and caffeine each do to dopamine signaling, according to human studies.
• How to Increase Norepinephrine: What Actually Works
  Norepinephrine runs on tyrosine and a few nutrient cofactors. Human trials show how far exercise and cold water raise it, and what sleep does to the system.
• How to Learn Faster: 7 Evidence-Based Techniques
  Seven research-backed methods that speed up learning. Active recall, spaced repetition, interleaving, sleep, deep processing, and focus strategies.
• How to Study Effectively: Evidence-Based Methods
  Study methods ranked by research evidence. Active recall, spaced repetition, interleaving, sleep and focus strategies that improve real test scores.
• L-Theanine and Caffeine: Why the Pairing Works for Focus
  What happens when you combine L-theanine and caffeine: the studied doses and ratios, what clinical trials found, timing and safety, with sources.
• L-Theanine Benefits: What the Research Shows
  L-theanine is an amino acid in tea that promotes calm focus without drowsiness. See the studied benefits of L-theanine, how it works and how much to take.
• L-Tyrosine Benefits: What It Does and When It Works
  What L-tyrosine actually does for focus and working memory under stress: doses from human trials, when it helps, when it does not, and safety.
• N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine vs L-Tyrosine: What the Data Show
  NALT dissolves far better than L-tyrosine, but human infusion studies show most of it leaves in the urine. What that means for choosing a tyrosine supplement.
• Vitamin B12 Benefits: What It Does and Why You Need It
  Vitamin B12 keeps your nerves, blood cells and DNA running. See the studied benefits, who runs low, how much you need and the best food sources.
• Vitamin B6 Benefits: What It Does and How Much You Need
  Vitamin B6 sits underneath the brain’s dopamine and GABA supply. See the studied benefits of vitamin B6, the dose that helps and the dose that harms.
• When to Take L-Theanine: Timing, Dose, and How Long It Lasts
  L-theanine peaks in the blood about 50 minutes after a dose and clears within hours. When to take it for focus, stress, or sleep, and how much, from trials.

Looking for a recommendation instead? Read our guide to the best nootropic supplement.