Fasoracetam effects and benefits are highly interesting for those who already know about nootropics. Additionally, fasoracetam is a relatively new nootropic. So, the fasoracetam effects certainly deserve further research and we invite you to continue reading to learn more.

If “racetam” sounds familiar to you, then, you might know about fasoracetam’s many cousins. In fact, aniracetam, oxiracetam, and others are all over nootropic online shelves.

Specifically, racetams target acetylcholine and glutamate receptors in the central nervous system. Additionally, there is a variety of racetams in the nootropic category. However, some variants also boast anticonvulsant properties which makes them helpful in reducing seizures.

What’s more, this variant shows promise as an anxiety-reducing productivity aid in animal studies. Interestingly, it has a cult following on Reddit for its ability to boost mood at a manageable dosage, without an unpleasant buzz. As a safe and effective alternative to phenibut, users turn to this non-addictive supplement when they need the additional boost.

What is Fasoracetam?

To help you learn more about the fasoracetam effects from which you might derive the benefits, let’s start with a bit of history. To begin, fasoracetam is a nootropic that belongs to the racetam family. Next, it was discovered in the 1990s in Japan, when Nippon Shinyaku, a pharmaceutical firm, began testing it as a potential treatment for vascular dementia. They did not get good results and ended their studies.

Though it’s unsuccessful for dementia patients, it has found its niche in enhancing cognitive performance. What’s more, there are currently clinical trials as a treatment for ADHD. Applications for ADHD are particularly exciting because fasoracetam is not a stimulant, unlike traditionally prescribed drugs. In fact, scientists are hopeful that treatment with fasoracetam will not include some of the riskier side effects of stimulants.

As a nootropic, fasoracetam reduces anxiety. In addition, it helps with mood and productivity-boosting. If you want a social lubricant, this may be the racetam for you.

Fasoracetam Mechanism of Action

Scientists are still discovering the precise pharmacological mechanisms of drugs in the racetam family. However, they know that racetams work by binding with glutamate and acetylcholine receptors which activate the proteins to incite activity.

These receptors manage the body’s excitatory neural messaging functions, control skeletal muscle activation, and play a key role in encoding new memories. In other words, glutamate and acetylcholine receptors help with nerve cell health, muscle movement, and memory.

How Glutamate and Acetylcholine Work

How do increased glutamate receptor and acetylcholine activity result in your enhanced cognition? As explained in a previous MindZymes blog post, glutamate is a nonessential amino acid with a major role in the human central nervous system. It is also the predominant excitatory neurotransmitter in the human brain. That means that almost all synaptic connections use it to send and receive messages between neurons.

Without glutamate, your brain would be at a loss for forming memories, learning, and regulating neuron communication. Your body’s management of its blood glutamate level is essential to a long, healthy life. However, chronically high glutamate levels, as a result of excessive production, uptake inhibition, or their coincidence often lead to stroke, Alzheimer’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Glutamate Receptors

Glutamate receptors are a collection complex, yet tiny, proteins distributed across the surfaces of neurons, or nerve cells. They do this by binding with glutamate to allow nerve cells to relay messages. Then, fasoracetam activates the metabotropic variety of glutamate receptor, which helps promote prolonged stimulus, and long-lasting signaling effects. Amazingly, with greater activation, your neurons send and receive messages at an increased rate.

Acetylcholine Neurotransmitter

Acetylcholine is a fellow neurotransmitter, though its functions differ from that of glutamate. Rather, acetylcholine is a versatile molecule whose affected regions in the body perform various functions. For instance, acetylcholine is known to operate at the neuromuscular junction, where its release is regulated by motor neurons. In order to move the muscles responsible for your voluntary body movements, motor neurons fire off acetylcholine, which prompts muscles to spring to action.

For example, when your fingers click the link to this article on your smartphone, acetylcholine allows it to happen. Acetylcholine also plays a prominent role in the autonomic nervous system, which controls the unconscious transition between sympathetic nervous system activity and parasympathetic nervous system activity. By acting on different cholinergic receptors, acetylcholine helps us relax from “fight or flight” agitation into “rest and digest” mode.

Moreover, the cholinergic regions of the learning center of the brain are what attract nootropics users to fasoracetam. People like it because of acetylcholine receptors in the hippocampus deal in matters of arousal, memory, attention, and motivation. In fact, users often remark on their ability to remember more details when taking fasoracetam.

Fasoracetam Effects & the Fasoracetam Experience

A quick scan of a fasoracetam experience in reviews reveals its popularity among the nootropic community. Users report a significant, immediate calming effect, with a noticeable reduction in anxiety. This is especially useful when facing difficult tasks that would otherwise cause worry and procrastination.

A common refrain among reviewers that have tried other anxiety-reducing drugs, commends fasoracetam as the “just right” level of relaxation. Additionally, it has noticeable benefits without the sleep-inducing or unproductive effects of other alternatives.

Improves Memory and Cognitive Abilities

In rat studies, fasoracetam effects include improvements to cognitive function by preventing memory disruption and increasing the animals’ performance under the stress of escape and survival conditions.

In addition, many users report that they experience significant memory increases when taking fasoracetam.

Fasoracetam also increases cognitive abilities, memory, and learning neurotransmitter, acetylcholine.

Relieves Anxiety and Depression

One study suggests that fasoracetam helps with mood, anxiety, and depression. It does this through activation of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA.)

With the action of a simultaneous increase in GABA and balancing the production of glutamate, fasoracetam effects include improvements to mood. Moreover, fasoracetam effects include smooth and relaxing benefits, overall.

Another study done with animals shows that they were less likely to exhibit behaviors that indicate anxiety, helplessness, or depression.

Eases Withdrawal Symptoms from Other Drugs

Some personal reports claim that taking fasoracetam helps with withdrawals from GABA-related CNS depressants. Those include gabapentin, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), and phenibut.

Fasoracetam ADHD

After the development of fasoracetam was discontinued by the Japanese because of disappointing results, a US firm, NeuroFix, purchased the clinical data. Their clinical trials began in 2016.

At that time, they began investigating fasoracetam’s potential in treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children who demonstrate a mutation of the glutamate receptor system. The results of the trial suggest that it is a potential non-stimulant alternative to amphetamines for the treatment of ADHD.

The Glutamate System and the Importance of Balance

Fasoracetam modulates some of the brain’s receptors for glutamate which again, is a crucial neurotransmitter that affects the brain’s health and proper functions. Unfortunately, when glutamate is out of balance, many illnesses may occur. Those include Alzheimer’s disease, ADHA, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.

Metabotropic glutamate receptors or mGluRs play a number of roles in the brain and body but primarily affect anxiety, learning, and memory.

There are eight mGluRs that maintain balance while two of them work to increase neural activity. The other six mGluRs work to reduce neurotoxicity.

In one study with animals, the use of fasoracetam shows restoration of function for two inhibitory mGluRs by lowering glutamate activity in the brain.

With fasoracetam modulating the metabotropic glutamate receptors and restoring balance to the glutamate system, this might explain the benefits to patients with ADHA.

Fasoracetam Effects Increase the Activity of GABA-B Receptors

First, by increasing the activity of or “upregulating” GABA-B receptors, fasoracetam makes more GABA available for the nervous system and the brain.

Next, as a forerunner to GABA, glutamate helps with learning but also has qualities that reduce anxiety and promote sleep.

Then, with a combination of added GABA and modulation of glutamate receptors, fasoracetam works to decrease anxiety, depression, social anxiety while it increases motivation.

Fasoracetam Increases the Available Acetylcholine

The uptake of choline in the hippocampus and cortex in the brain significantly increases when taking fasoracetam.

This is important because choline is the neurotransmitter that most strongly affects improvements to cognition. However, this additional demand may reduce the supply of choline. Fortunately, you get a counter-balancing effect by taking a choline supplement.

Fasoracetam vs. Phenibut

Fasoracetam is particularly appealing to phenibut users looking for an over-the-counter anxiolytic, without the risk of addiction, withdrawal symptoms, and overdose. Phenibut sells under the names Fenibut, Anvibut, and Noofen and is a powerful anxiolytic drug with risks. Therefore, you must be cautious because even though it induces relaxation, dissolves social anxiety, and brings on a level of euphoria, it’s easy to build up a tolerance which often leads to withdrawal symptoms after frequent use.

Phenibut’s addictive quality may be due to its positive effect on brain dopamine levels. Additionally, it takes up to several hours to feel the effects of phenibut, often prompting unaware first-time users to take more than the recommended dose. At 750mg to 1.5g, phenibut is a comparatively high dosage with an overdose at 7 grams. Signs of overdose to look for are vomiting, loss of motor skills, and psychosis.

While there are no known phenibut overdose deaths, you’re certainly in for some serious discomfort if you exceed the recommended dose. This laundry list of potential ills has earned phenibut a total ban as a scheduled substance in Australia. There is also a similar ban in Hungary.

Unlike phenibut, fasoracetam does not have the risk of tolerance, and addiction at higher doses. Instead, fasoracetam appears safe at high doses and does not show dopamine effects.

Fasoracetam Dosage

Though there is no pharmacological consensus on the dosage for fasoracetam, Reddit users report effectiveness at doses ranging from as low as 10mg to more than 100mg a day, with no undesirable side effects. Online, it often sells in 20mg capsules. Fasoracetam is available in both capsules or powder.

In reference to ADHD clinical trials on adolescents, fasoracetam was taken in doses of 50-800mg with a follow-up of 400mg twice daily for 4 weeks, administered according to symptoms.

In addition, daily doses of 100mg were given during a small study with 14 Japanese men.

Fasoracetam is taken with or without food and is water-soluble. 

Fasoracetam Side Effects

Fasoracetam has some reported side effects but is the same as other nootropics in the racetam family. Those side effects are headache, slight fatigue, and digestive discomfort. Taking a choline supplement (as with all racetams) usually eliminates the side effect of headaches.

Additionally, some individual users report a reduction in sex drive and function.

As with all supplements, consult with your medical professional before taking fasoracetam. This is especially important for potential users who take prescription drugs or have existing medical conditions.

Fasoracetam Stacks

Choline and Fasoracetam Stack

The use of racetams often results in headaches due to the depletion of choline. However, taking choline supplements usually eliminates these headaches. Below you will find a good balance of dosage to help you ease the side effect of headaches when taking fasoracetam.

• Fasoracetam 20mg
• CDP Choline 300mg

Take together 1-2 times per day.

Fasoracetam, Noopept, and Choline Stack

For emphasis on superb focus and awareness, combine fasoracetam and noopept along with the choline boost. In addition to great focus, this stack also improves dexterity without a jittery side effect.

Morning Dose

• Fasoracetam 10mg
• Noopept 10mg
• Choline 500mg

Evening Dose

• Noopept 10mg

Fasoracetam and Coluracetam Stack

The benefits of this stack include improvements to neurological disorders and concentration in addition to improving mood (coluracetam.)

• Fasoracetam 10mg
• Coluracetam 10mg

Take twice daily. If you get headaches, add 500mg of Choline.

Conclusion

Fasoracetam is relatively new to the world of nootropics and still in the experimental stages. However, it already has a strong nootropic community following. So, be sure to consult with your medical professionals before taking this or any supplemental routine.

The downside is that it is so new that there are no studies on the safety of long-term use. In addition, more research is needed for whether continuous dosage or cycling is more effective. Moreover, additional research must be done for interactions with other drugs.

However, it is an innovative nootropic that many find effective. In fact, many users report, and current studies show that fasoracetam enhances cognitive ability while also helping with anxiety, depression, low motivation, and sleeping.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products discussed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.