I'd be interested in this too. I'm 16 and will be trying it soon.
There isn't any research, so in effect you're going to be your own guinea pig. In my opinion, deprenyl is a benign enough substance that it's probably not going to cause much harm. I would still wait until you're 18, It really isn't worth the risk. I'm not sure what you're expecting from deprenyl, but it's unlikely you're going to notice any subjective difference. In a month or so after talking it, you might say to yourself "huh, I haven't really been depressed at all lately, looking back.", or "homework doesn't seem quite as tough as it used to, I wonder why this is? could it be the deprenyl?". But, you're probably not going to feel any difference. It doesn't help with focus or attention, in my and in others experience.
I have a feeling inhibiting MAO-B just doesn't do very much, and although it might increase PEA, it doesn't do so enough for you to feel anything consciously. One good thing about it is that it's been shown to increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus by increasing BDNF, GDNF, and related trophic factors. This is the reason I take it. Go ahead and research the relationship between neurogenesis, depression, stress, and memory. Neurogenesis in relation to each of those things, that is.
If you were to ask me which was the safest, taking deprenyl at 16 or taking adderall or an antidepressant, I would say deprenyl. Its more useful for elderly people but it isn't that much different than other psychiatric medications, other than that it doesn't really seem to do anything. I probably have adhd-pi, so this might be part of why I don't notice much of an effect ("paradoxical" effect, so i don't notice any stimulation), where as others report do report noticing some energizing effect. It hasn't been of any help for the adhd-pi.
One reason I might think deprenyl could be
better in an adolescent is because your brain is still developing, and if you add all of these tropic factors that increase neurogenesis, you're going to end up with a brain that has more distant and powerful connections once you're adult. You're tinkering with a very delicate process at a time when you're still developing, and so the other possibility (prepare to wipe up that drool) is that you might fuck something up and wind up with malformed connections/etc, after which you'll be able to do nothing about it.
Wait until you're 18 and stick to more natural measures like exercise, lots of green leafy veggies and antioxidant rich berries, maybe some green tea, fish oil, and most importantly, keep your mind as active as possible. Nootropics can't do that work for you, they can only help you along the way. Learning itself does the same thing i cited deprenyl for doing - it stimulates BDNF. I'm not sure what reasons you choosing nootropics for, but if you really want to strengthen your mind, I'd suggest a combo of daily reading and writing. If you were to start writing about what you read, this would help "externalize" your thought and develop memory. This isn't for everyone, and I don't know if you have the disposition to enjoy these things or not. If you were to start this now, I doubt you'll regret it. Consider setting a daily reading minimum for yourself, if you find that you're not focused enough with it naturally. Start with 50 pages a day, then bump it up to 100 or 200 a day. Does that sound like a lot? It is, but what you'll find is that your brain adapts and you become faster and more focused with the reading over time. Forcing your brain to adapt to extreme intellectual conditions will mold it into a very powerful shape, and trying to do this while its still developing is key, because you still have time to strengthen these connections. Once you're 20, they're probably basically fixed. Neurogenesis is limited to specific areas. Continually up the demand, but also leave room for socializing, which is just as important and which can also heighten your consciousness to new plateaus though its own means. Try keeping a journal and elaborating on your thoughts/feelings. This will probably help you more than anything you'd get in high school, at least if you're in a public school. Relying on nootropics to improve focus/intelligence/memory, etc, will not really get you very far, and may even hinder you. What's more important is building the real cognitive structure behind these capacities, all of which can be cultivated naturally. Most of what can be achieved though pharmacological means can also be achieved though non-pharmacological means. Burroughs said something along these lines, and I agree with it. The problem arises when you begin to depend on a medicine to get what you can accomplish naturally though work: that just hinders you in the long run and is not real progress. None of these drugs are amazing enough to really make any difference for most people. Some of us are trying to figure out how to get piracetam to work, but it seems close to useless at the moment.
If you did want to take a supplement, one thing I might recommend is alpha-gpc, which I think is superior to CDP-choline but which isn't as well researched. When fed to young rats, they developed "rat super-brains" with neural connections like 15x longer or something absurd like this. If you ever find yourself getting depressed, stop taking it immediately, because it is linked to this.
what are you trying to achieve with the nootropics?
LongeCity
