Nootropics

“Excuse me,” said Wilson, “but ‘Relentless’?”

“Yes. It appears to be a category of designer drug therapies in the eugeroic category. What some people call nootropic. Wakefulness drugs. Modafinil is the best-known drug in this category of drugs. It was developed to work for people with narcolepsy. It’s now used in all kinds of contexts where people need to stay alert for long periods of time. The air force uses it as a ‘go pill’ for certain situations. They did a really interesting test where they kept pilots awake for thirty-seven hours and made them fly in a simulator under the influence of it. That has real benefits for the military on long missions, and I know that it’s been tested in some countries to help firefighters on long shifts, emergency room staff, and so on. There are clear benefits, but as with all drugs, there are both known side effects and potential misuses. Not accidental … I mean deliberate uses for less-than-admirable purposes.”

...

In normal pharmacology, these drugs are wakefulness-promoting agents often prescribed to prevent shift-work sleepiness. That version was designed to build stamina and wakefulness to a point where the treated person won’t tire and won’t lose mental sharpness.”

“How does that work?” asked Wilson.

“While these drugs do upregulate hypothalamic histamine, they more directly work as a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, which means that they keep dopamine in the brain from being reabsorbed into the signaling neurons. This has the effect of building up more dopamine in the synaptic space, which is the business end of a neuron. Now … this works really well for what it is intended to do. A situation where you have to be okay for a long period of time, but not one where you have to be super awesome for a short period of time. Follow me?”

- Relentless pg. 339-340, Kindle Edition.