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A broad, loosely-regulated category of substances marketed to enhance cognitive function — memory, focus, motivation, creativity — spanning everything from well-studied prescription drugs to supplements with thin or nonexistent clinical evidence behind them.

Example: Eugeroics like modafinil are sometimes described as nootropics, but the terms aren't interchangeable — "nootropic" is a marketing-driven umbrella category, while "eugeroic" describes a specific, mechanistically defined drug class. Microdosed psychedelics get marketed under the nootropic label too, despite the evidence base for cognitive enhancement being much thinner than for the underlying clinical indications.