Product name:Piracetam
CAS:7491-74-9
Piracetam (sold under many brand names) is a nootropic drug. Piracetam's chemical name is 2-oxo-1-pyrrolidine acetamide; it shares the same 2-oxo-pyrrolidone base structure with 2-oxo-pyrrolidine carboxylic acid (pyroglutamate). Piracetam is a cyclic derivative of GABA. It is one of the racetams. Piracetam is prescribed by doctors for some conditions, mainly myoclonus,[1] but is used off-label for a much wider range of applications.

In South America, it is made by Laboratorios Farma S.A. and sold under the brand name of Breinox in Venezuela and Ecuador.

There is very little data on piracetam's effect on healthy people, with most studies focusing on those with seizures, dementia, concussions, or other neurological problems.[2]

In 2008, a committee of the British Academy of Medical Sciences noted that many of the clinical trials of piracetam for dementia were methodologically flawed.[2] However, numerous positive individual studies support the use of piracetam in people suffering from a wide range of cognitive disorders,[3][4] and a 2002 meta-analysis concluded that piracetam had a therapeutic effect in older patients with cognitive impairment.[5]

Several meta-reviews of literature on piracetam indicate that piracetam increases performance on a variety of cognitive tasks among dyslexic children, though this may reflect its enhancement of cross-hemispheric communication and of cognitive function in general, rather than a specific improvement in whatever causes dyslexia. Piracetam also seems to inhibit brain damage caused by a variety of factors including hypoxia and excessive alcohol consumption.[6][7]

Piracetam has been studied in an extensive number of clinical experiments, and has shown positive results in the treatment of post-stroke aphasia, epilepsy, cognitive decline following heart and brain surgery, dementia,[5] and myoclonus.[8][9] Its peripheral vascular effect has indicated its use for vertigo, dyslexia, and sickle cell anemia as well.[3]

Piracetam appears to increase communication between the two hemispheres of the brain, and increases activity of the corpus callosum