racetam


racetam

A broad family of agents used by some athletes as pharmacologically safe performance enhancers—e.g., nootropics. Piracetam was the first, and still most commonly used, nootropic. It is structurally similar to other racetams including pramiracetam, oxiracetam, nebracetam, nefiracetam and aniracetam, which act as positive allosteric modulators of AMPA receptors and appear to modulate the acetylcholinergic system. Their efficacy in enhancing performance during competition is uncertain.