Beware This New Brain Hack

It's called ‘clean’ nicotine, but should come with warnings

Jeanne Dorin McDowell

Comments

Published April 09, 2026

A drawing of a brain beside nicotine products and a sign that says, "CAUTION: RISK OF ADDICTION"

AARP (Getty Images,3)

Key takeaways:

‘Clean’ nicotine products are being promoted as focus and productivity aids, but they carry risks.
Research shows nicotine may support attention and memory, yet benefits are inconsistent and limited.
Experts warn addiction, sleep disruption and drug interactions may outweigh any brain gains.

Are you one of the millions of Americans who finally quit smoking after countless failed attempts and so much gum you practically got lockjaw? If you are, you probably remember the exhilaration when you finally kicked the habit.

Well, nicotine is back, but not in the form of cigarettes, which the surgeon general declared cancer-causing back in the 1960s.

Today’s nicotine still comes from the tobacco plant. But unlike cigarettes, which contain carcinogens beyond nicotine tied to lung cancer and other major diseases when combusted and inhaled, this pharmaceutical-grade nicotine is separated from tobacco and usually delivered in gum, patches and pouches held between the teeth and gums.

They are sold over-the-counter at your local drugstore for smoking cessation. Some are marketed as “clean” or “modern” nicotine pouches or “productivity hacks,” like Philip Morris International’s Zyn, which is marketed to millennials eager to enhance mental focus and optimize physical workouts.

This rebranded nicotine is gaining popularity among an unlikely audience: longevity and brain health influencers who see it as a way to sharpen focus, improve reaction time and enhance memory. Some say it improves neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to form new neural connections.

Stanford University neuroscientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman, for example, has said nicotine “sharpens his mind.” He takes a couple of milligrams “now and then” but acknowledges it can pose long-term cardiovascular and oral health risks.

Dave Asprey, a self-help author and longevity guru, uses 1- to 2-milligram doses of nicotine in lozenges or patches for 30 to 60 minutes, no more than three times a week, he says.

On his website, Asprey extols the benefits of nicotine for focus and a boost during long writing or recording sessions and when he’s traveling between time zones. But he stresses: “Use it as a tool, not a crutch,” probably because nicotine is a stimulant that may be addictive and pose other health risks.

“People don’t fully agree to what extent this nicotine may be addictive,” says neuroscientist Dr. Yuko Hara, director of Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention for the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). “But I have safety concerns.

“Similar to caffeine, nicotine impairs sleep, and sleep is very important for brain health,” she says. “Also, if people are taking other medications, nicotine could interact with them. You want to talk to your doctor or pharmacist to make sure that if you’re going to use nicotine, it’s not interacting with other drugs to cause harmful effects.”

The question is whether nicotine biohacking is the latest longevity gimmick with potential harms, or if it has legitimate benefits for brain health.

Why revisit nicotine?

Over more than 40 years of study, researchers have a pretty good handle on the science of nicotine — including how and why it acts as a stimulant and can lead to addiction.

Nicotine works by binding to receptors in the brain called nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. These receptors aid learning, memory and attention, and they protect nerve cells from dying. By stimulating some pathways in the brain, nicotine may enhance cognitive performance, says Dr. Paul Newhouse, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University who studies nicotine and cognition.

Nicotine also increases levels of dopamine, the brain’s feel-good chemical, and norepinephrine, which sharpens alertness and focus. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nicotine is the stimulant smokers feel when they inhale and that creates long-term brain changes that can result in addiction and difficulty withdrawing.

Several small human studies and clinical trials have demonstrated the cognition-enhancing impacts of nicotine, including improvement of fine motor functions, attention, working memory and episodic memory. Biohackers tend to espouse these to support their nicotine use.

“Some of these effects on the brain are worth paying attention to,” says neurologist and best-selling author Dr. David Perlmutter. “In simple terms, nicotine can enhance communication between brain cells and influence chemicals like dopamine and acetylcholine, both of which are important for thinking clearly and staying mentally engaged. This helps explain why some people report feeling more alert or focused after nicotine exposure.”

“Of course, this doesn’t mean nicotine is harmless,” Perlmutter adds. “Its addictive nature is very real.”

Mixed results for a few conditions

Studies have been largely inconclusive, at best, and don't warrant a blanket endorsement of nicotine biohacking for brain health.

For example, at Vanderbilt University, the two-year MIND (Memory Improvement through Nicotine Dosing) study — the longest-running clinical trial to test whether nicotine can improve or alleviate symptoms of memory loss in people with mild cognitive impairment — fell short of expectations.

“The overall study effects did not show the treatment benefit we had hoped to see,” says Newhouse, the MIND study’s senior investigator.

Newhouse says his findings do suggest that nicotine may sometimes improve concentration, focus and clarity among people who have specific conditions or cognitive disorders, such as ADHD, that hamper their thinking.

Importantly, Newhouse cautions that nicotine could adversely affect the ability to think clearly in individuals who don’t have disorders.

“You won’t get much benefit out of stimulation with nicotine if you’re someone with normal cognitive functioning,” agrees Edward Levin, chief of the neurobehavioral research lab in Duke University Medical Center’s psychiatry department. “But there may be a sweet spot.

Levin says using nicotine may benefit people who have extreme anxiety and depression. “It may have emotional benefits we shouldn’t ignore.

“Think of nicotine receptor stimulation as a tuning mechanism for the brain,” he continues. “It amplifies the signal that is there or that comes along a nerve cell and wants to transmit.”

The impact of nicotine on acetylcholine is also generating interest in its possible use for treating neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, which involves a decline in acetylcholine as the disease progresses.

A 2023 report by the ADDF, “Nicotine,” determined that the evidence is mixed on whether nicotine may protect against cognitive decline or dementia, and long-term research on nicotine in this area is limited because most studies have involved tobacco and the effects of smoking. In some preclinical research, nicotine worsened some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease and protected against others.

In a study published in 2023 Nature Communications, researchers at China’s Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology found that low doses of nicotine over a long period slowed aging in mice by improving how cells use energy and slowing down age-related deterioration and memory loss. It did this by boosting growth of new nerve cells, stopping inflammation in the nervous system and protecting organs, the researchers wrote.

Another study published that year in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found that giving nicotine to mice with Parkinson’s disease decreased the motor problems that are characteristic of the neurodegenerative condition.

And a small study in Germany is looking at nicotine as a way to ease brain fog and fatigue in people with long COVID.

The Verdict

Clearly, more research is needed to understand the impacts of “clean” nicotine and whether it might be helpful for the brain.

As Levin points out, for now there are no substantial benefits to nicotine biohacking, and the risks of addiction may outweigh any gains for brain health.

“Nicotine is under investigation,” he says, “but it’s not ready for prime time.”

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

%{postComment}%