Social Good Engineering Magazine: GineersNow Social Innovation GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 001 | Page 68

IS BEING “LIMITLESS”
JUST A PILL AWAY?
f
d
W
ho doesn’t want a brain
superpower to go
along with an already
intricate mind? No one.
That’s why this is good
news to every engineer
that humanity is now
close to this pill that
will improve mind capacity into almost
‘limitless.’

There is a popular myth which
says that humans only use 10 percent of
their brains. Others believe it, but ultimate-
ly, the truth is that humans use all of it.

The myth may be deep-rooted
from the fact that only about 10 percent
of our brains are made up of neurons. The
other 90 percent is composed of non-neu-
ronal cells, such as glial cells, that provide
other functions for the brain. With that
ratio of the brain cells, what if it becomes
possible for a pill to make the 90% merge
with the 10%?

To break the ice for you, yup, it
is believed to be possible. Scientists have
produced a pill that capsulized the power
to transform non-neuronal glial cells into
functioning neurons for brain repair. It is
like a cocktail of small molecules that can
by Dion Greg Reyes
be swallowed to change those cells not
directly used by the brain, into something
useful like processing of information. By
then, you are no longer 10% using of your
brain but more. That would mean you are
bounds smarter than before.

But hold it: the pill is being de-
veloped as a brain repair drug and not for
public consumption. It improves the cogni-
tive functions of those with diseases like
Alzheimer’s or for aiding the recovery of
those with brain trauma. The aim is to treat
patients with brain disorders at home to
regenerate neurons in their brains without
any brain surgery or cell transplantation, as
explained by Gong Chen, lead researcher
in the development of the drug and a pro-
fessor of biology at Penn State University.

The pill is not even yet available
to patients as it is still being studied.
Humans have not tried it for trial, and so
the side effects of the pill remain a mystery.
After all, glial cells still serve an import-
ant brain function, which alteration may
induce poor brain functions.

A Bradley Cooper-starred
movie had already showed this kind of
brain-enhancing hullabaloo with the NZT-
48, a powerful cognitive enhancer. The
protagonist became a superhuman and
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everyone around him wished the same –
even us.

In sheer desperation to find a
pill closest to that of NZT-48, here’s a dan-
gerous combo according to Brain Pro Tips
that might as well do the trick: phenylpirac-
etam, modafinil and low-dose nicotine.

What the hell will those phar-
maceuticals do to you, you ask? Well, Phen-
ylpiracetam improves verbal fluency and
cognitive flexibility; Modafinil develops
your work ethic, exuberance and focus; and
Nicotine, in low doses, improves working
memory in normal, healthy subjects.

Nobody has tried to hack their
brain capacity yet with this kind of combo
as the side effects haven’t been figured out.
If you are willing to risk it, please don’t –
because it may not be worth it. Right now
we just have to settle with the presumably
10% of our brain, and wait until scientists
release this kind of drug.

Or is the pill being hidden
considering what it might do to the human
race? Hmmm.
All Photos Source: YouTube Screencaps