[Liquid02]

What are your guys opinion on phenibut being a real nootropic. I hear different opinions on this...

[Fallon]

It satisfies some of the criteria. It's more like a hybrid Nootropic/Drug but certainly not a full Nootropic.

According to the father of Nootropics they must have certain elements:

1. They should enhance learning and memory.
2. They should enhance the resistance of learned behaviors/memories to conditions which tend to disrupt them (e.g. electroconvulsive shock, hypoxia).
3. They should protect the brain against various physical or chemical injuries (e.g. barbiturates, scopalamine).
4. They should increase the efficacy of the tonic cortical/subcortical control mechanisms.
5. They should lack the usual pharmacology of other psychotropic drugs (e.g. sedation, motor stimulation) and possess very few side effects and extremely low toxicity.

Check this study to see that Phenibut does protect the brain and possesses neuroprotective properties: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26621244

It certainly checks off points 1, 3, and to a certain extent, 5. Not too sure about points 2 and 4.

I would say it has too many negative side effects to be considered a full blown Nootropic but there are certain Nootropic elements there for sure. Once again, it's more like a drug/nootropic combo. Personally this makes it one of the most interesting compounds out there IMO.