Not too long ago, the general consensus about our IQ was that our intelligence can't be improved. Though this issue is still debated occasionally, today most of us know that learning a new language and becoming an avid reader have both been proven to increase one's score on any intelligence aptitude test.

In this week's episode we are going to be exploring a rather esoteric topic in the domain of performance enhancement and that is the world of smart drugs. Now if you've seen the movie Limitless then you probably know what i'm talking about.

I often get asked where is a good starting point with nootropics, especially as it pertains to creating your own stacks. If you haven't done so already, let me first kindly refer you to post titled the Nootropics for Traders - 4 Step Plan.

Can this new class of nootropics beverage raise your game and performance? In the ever expanding nootropics and cognitive enhancers space, one of the most rapidly expanding areas is the nootropics beverage space.

var _ndnq = _ndnq || []; _ndnq.push(['embed']); Employees at San Francisco startup Nootrobox don't eat on Tuesdays. The weekly fast isn't an extreme money-saving move by a scrappy, bootstrapping company. Instead, Nootrobox team members swear withholding food for 36 hours - they stop eating Monday night - improves their workplace focus and concentration.

It is late evening and biochemist George Bonaci, 27, is standing in the kitchen of the San Francisco technology hub where he works, casually making the next day's breakfast and, quite possibly, lunch and dinner too. He puts various protein powders, fish oil, vitamins and minerals into a blender and gives it a whizz.

In Silicon Valley there's a growing community of biohackers - people who are trying to "upgrade" their bodies and minds. We asked biohacker Eric Matzner if we could film what he does every morning to increase his productivity. Here's what he showed us.

When a company co-founder and CEO took the stage at a tech startup pitching contest in Silicon Valley recently, the last thing she had on her mind was her gender. Yet as she made her way to the stage to deliver a carefully practiced pitch for investment funding, not all the audience were applauding.

Eric Matzner tells me he takes 30 to 40 pills a day. He is 27 and perfectly healthy. Thanks to the pills, he says he hasn't had a cold in years. More importantly, the regimen is supposed to optimize the hell out of his brain, smoothing right over the ravages of aging, sleep deprivation, and hangovers.

At the San Francisco consciousness hacking monthly meet-up, about 150 personal development geeks are crowding around hi-tech consumer devices that promise a more relaxed you. There is a brain stimulator called Thync, released in June, that applies an electric current to the head to deliver calming vibes, and a breath-monitoring device that looks like a stone, called Spire, that alerts you if you have failed to take a deep breath recently.