Modafinil. Piracetam. Ritalin. Go to any university campus in exam season and it won ' t be long before you come across students popping these cognitive enhancers like sweeties.

Known as ' smart drugs ' because they enhance executive functions such as attention control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility resulting in greater concentration, creativity and information retention, they are a gift for anyone who needs to cram before an exam, an important job interview or a big speech.

The term ' nootropic ' may only have entered common parlance in recent years but the use of cognitionenhancing drugs is nothing new. Despite the controversy surrounding the use of pharmaceutical nootropics people in the UK think nothing of powering through their paperwork with a double-shot latte or a gruelling night shift with Red Bull or caffeine pills.

Many enjoy a morning latte. Caffeine may be the world ' s most widely-consumed psychoactive drug and adored by billions of people for its performance-enhancing properties, but there may be reason to reconsider nicotine as a time-tested nootropic.

Like caffeine, it is a toxin produced by plants as a defence mechanism against insects, animals and fungi. Indeed, until recently it was used by man as a pesticide( now replaced with neonicotinioids). But while it is dangerous to smaller creatures and fatal to humans in high enough doses, in smaller quantities it has numerous benefits.

As a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, nicotine binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain. The activation of these receptors by nicotine increases the efficiency of the neurons making them better transmitters, A 2010 meta-analysis of the effects of nicotine on performance found that nicotine increases aspects of fine motor abilities, alerting and orienting attention, and episodic and working memory.

For those of us who spend our days engaged in creative work, a cigarette not only provides an outlet for excess creative energy but seems, in fact, to increase it and to stimulate new ideas and new perspectives that otherwise might be missed.

Despite the ubiquity of criticism that smoking is a ' stupid ' or ' pointless ' habit and its practitioners ' idiots ' or mere addicts, there is a compelling case for smoking being not only useful, but smarter than you might think

smokers ' manifesto

04