Blue neon lights illuminate the face of a wearer of an EEG headset as their fingers slide over a smartphone that records brain impulses. In a loft in Silicon Valley someone is playing a video game designed to train attention while drinking soft drinks that promise to accelerate learning. This is more or less how the new frontier of cognitive enhancement works which, between devices and supplements, tries to get closer to one of humanity’s great dreams: become smarter.
The list of objects or substances that promise to improve cognitive abilities is long. Looking a bit at the offers on the brain enhancement market we found brain games, memory supplements, headphones that read brain waves, and pulses that stimulate nerves to speed up learning. The market is growing, neurotech companies are investing, and a public that wants to improve their brain at all costs buying. Even if the scientific evidence remains weak at the moment. But what is real behind this new trend and what are the limits of cognitive “optimization”?
Creatine: from the gym to the brain
There creatine it has been used for years by athletes and sportsmen, used to support energy production in muscle cells, but now it is the subject of growing attention for its possible effects on the human brain. According to Vitamin Shoppe’s 2025 report, demand for creatine has grown by 2019 320%. On the cognitive front, however, the evidence – although promising – is still there modest and limited to specific conditions. Of course, the use made in gyms to increase muscle volume more quickly weighs heavily on the data.
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According to various analyzes and experimental studies, creatine can improve memory, processing speed and attentionespecially in subjects subjected to intense mental stress, sleep deprivation or at an advanced age. But it’s important to point out that European scientific authorities have not yet officially recognized a cognitive effect of creatinedeeming the evidence insufficient to approve a specific health claim.
“Cognitive” devices: the new frontier of mental optimization
Not just supplements: new high-tech products are entering the market that promise to improve concentration, memory or “brain age” through the use of neural signals, artificial intelligence or real-time feedback. Let’s go, come on consumer EEG devices to monitor brain activity to “medical” video games designed to stimulate specific cognitive areas.
For example, EndeavorRxa video game approved by the FDA in the United States in 2020 as a treatment for ADHD in children, based on research conducted at the University of California, San Francisco. However, most of the so-called “brain games” it does not have a solid scientific basis demonstrating lasting benefits on general cognitive functions in daily life.
Neuromarketing and neurotech: devices to be intelligent
Tech companies and research laboratories have sensed the trend and are investing in new neurotechnologies that integrate it artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Some Silicon Valley startups and giants are working on wearable devices that can monitor neural activity in real time and provide personalized feedback. As Business Insider reports, consumer neurotech companies have increased from 41 in 2014 to 153 in 2024.
Not just wearable devices. The real rockstars of brain optimization are in fact implantables. Enhanced memory, telepathy, controlling devices by thoughtultra-rapid learning, are just some of the “super-powers” that we could develop thanks to brain implants. There are already devices capable of using the electrical signals that arrive from the nervous system, for example Neuralink, which allow people with paralysis serious about using brain-computer interfaces to move the cursor on the screen. However, the activation of some peripheral nerves could be exploited to learn faster. The researchers are already testing the effect of impulses on the vagus nerve for cognitive enhancement.
What really works according to science
Neuroscientists agree on some key points. First, There is no “magic pill” for the brain: The strategies that offer the most stable and verified benefits are not technological tricks, but basic behaviors such as sleep, do regular physical activity, eat a balanced diet and maintain meaningful social relationships.
Cognitive improvement is almost always gradual and requires continuous commitmentnot quick or drastic results from a single product. Some strategies show potential in specific contexts, but none have yet been confirmed to substantially and lastingly change the intellectual capacity of a well-rested, healthy and active person.
