Nootropics

Experiments with nootropics.

Background

I want to improve myself as safely and effectively as possible. What else is there to say?

Fill empty capsules with 200 mg PE1 (treatment) and flour (placebo), wiping down each afterwards lest some PE1 residue or flour be on the capsule's exterior
Write "1" or "2" on slips of paper, where 1 is PE1 and 2 is placebo (in hindsight I should have set 0 = placebo and 1 = PE1, but whatevs)
Place a capsule with the appropriate slip of paper into an unlabeled envelope
Thoroughly mix the envelopes with eyes closed
Number the envelopes 1 to n
Thoroughly mix the now-numbered envelopes with eyes closed
Open one envelope each morning, take its contents carefully (see Confounders section below), and mark down the envelope number for that day

Some possible shortcomings and how I addressed them:

Weight: The PE1 pill appears to weight slightly more than the placebo pill. This is marginal and only noticeable when I have one in either hand. I do not expect to notice a difference when consuming them on their own.
Rattling: The PE1 rattles slightly in its capsule when moved quickly, causing me to immediately know what I am taking if I feel or hear rattling. To minimize this risk, I will put water in my mouth before putting the capsule in. Headphones will be playing loud music to prevent hearing the rattling. If I still notice rattling, I will update this section with my new plan.
Taste: I cannot wash the capsules off because they dissolve in liquid. I had to resort to thoroughly wiping them off with a paper towel. I will take each capsule with a healthy dose of water to dilute any taste on the capsule's exterior and attempt to avoid my tongue touching it.
Sight: The envelopes I used are slightly transparent, allowing me to see the outline of the capsule and slip of paper (which I wrote on very faintly in pencil). Regardless, I do not look at the envelope at all until the end of the day and after I make my prediction. The slip of paper is kept secret until the final day

I kept track of the following metrics:

Sleep: Bedtime; awake time; sleepiness at bedtime; sleepiness at awake time
Productivity: General productivity score based on items accomplished; ability to focus; how "sharp" I am
Exercise: Session intensity; session duration; session quality
Mood: Irritability; excitement

Link to results: pe1.csv

Summary: I did worse than chance with a total Brier score across all samples was a whopping 0.278, where 0.25 is perfect chance.

Some thoughts:

Sample size: My n was not nearly enough and should probably be in the 1000s to get an accurate idea
Confounders: There are so many confounders I didn't control for: sleep, nutrition, exercise, stress, lifestyle, etc. It's extremely challenging to understand the role these all play towards the complex system that is the human body.
Confidences: It's humbling to have 90% confidence that it's the intervention and have it turn out to be the placebo. Ouch! This lends more credence to the confounders throwing off my nose as to what's what.

In general, I'm sure this works on a more surgical basis given the literature and other experimental results.