Hey guys what are you thoughts on taking PS, 500-1000mg complex before a test to reduce cortisol release in response to anxiety or stress, allowing for better concentration and memory.
The PS could be stalked with aniracetam and dmae + huperzine.
It would be great if BBB could weigh in on this.
Seems like it c/would be appropriate if you get overly anxious.
IMO the impairment of memory and cognition that most experience during tests is a result of your body’s Survival Stress Reaction mechanism kicking in in response to a perceived “threat”. When this happens your sympathetic nervous system mobilizes and brain activity is diverted from your fore-brain and its logic and reasoning centers into your mid-brain and it’s more basic emotional, animal functioning centers. This process causes cortisol to be released into your body (as well as other hormones including adrenaline etc) in preparation for fight or flight. Unfortunately punching someone in the face and running out of the room will not help you pass a test.
My point is that reduced cognition etc. has more to do with your perceived level of stress and the parts of your brain that you are able to access during periods of high emotional arousal. The hormonal stuff happens as a result of this process but is not the cause (although it becomes a self-perpetuating loop to a great extent). Autogenic (4 count) breathing will provide a more powerful direct effect on your SNS and stress response than PS will. Breathe in through your nose for 4, hold for 4, out through mouth for 4, hold empty for 4, repeat. 5 sets will usually have a profound effect on your state of arousal, even in a genuine life or death situation.
PS won’t hurt at all and may, in fact provide some immediate benefit, but your ability to manage your stress is infinitely more important. Supplement wise I would tend to recommend theanine more strongly than PS in the short term as it is shown to have a significant, immediate effect on anxiety by boosting alpha wave activity in the brain. Just my $.02. I hope it helps man, good luck.
I really appreciate the response Batman. That is sound logic, and I will use that breathing technique. I have for a long time hesitated to use mood leveling things like theanine or glycine. Purely out of the knowledge that anxiety usually stems from other psychological issues that need tending to not symptomatic coverage as you can do with something like xanax. So i am all for the the breathing technique, but i’m also interested in ensuring a better test experience (:
Thanks BBB, that makes sense.
I’ve been using the aniracteam 750mg x2 with 500mg dmae x2 and though it seems to not do much for recall or my mathematical abilities, i am much quicker to write my essays and much better at expressing myself. It really helped me nail all 3 essays on my English AP with time to spare.
I guess i was thinking recall as purely the sense of familiarization with the math topic and ability to quickly know what step is next.
In writing by expression i meant the ability to generate new thought and ideas quickly, though i see what you mean lol, the topics of my essay were essentially stored in my brain, but the glue of the essay; the word play and format, that was on the spot, and that was much smoother than normal. Then again that is vocabulary and is essentially learned unless i was making up nice sounding words, the AP graders will appreciate that.
creatine can also aided in cognitive abilities, or at least potentially
I use PS but not sure how that would work before a test… It most certainly calms me down after my training session, lifting my mood and taking care of the cortisol release, seems to somehow help with cognition (it is actually my favorite ‘noop’). I took it once before my interpreting exam with a high dose of tyrosine and made me more composed on the task, able to recall complex language structures. I felt switched on but relaxed at the same time (bear in mind I used like 4-5 grams of tyrosine too).
Would I recommend it?
Yes if:
a. take care of the basics (as has been mentioned before)
b. you can afford it (for me 600 mg is a minimum)