Cognitive & Nootropic — Category Comparisons
Published · Researched 2026-09-21
Compiled 2026-09-21 from the 13 per-item research files in this directory. All prices observed 2026-09-20/21; all tiers per the validation contract (Tier 1 = Facebook Groups + Instagram owner content + Threads; Tier 2 = strong independent evidence on two of the three; Tier 3 = single-platform/weak signal, explicitly flagged; UNVALIDATED = minimum bar not met).
Specs head-to-head
| Item | Identity | MW | Route (community/vendor) | Human evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semax | Heptapeptide, Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro | 813.9 Da | Nasal (0.1%/1%), SC | Russian Rx since 1990s; stroke/BDNF literature |
| N-Acetyl Semax | N-acetylated Semax (amidate forms also sold) | ~856 Da (UNVERIFIED exact) | Nasal, SC | No analog-specific controlled trials; rides base Semax's file |
| Selank | Heptapeptide, Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro | 751.9 Da | Nasal | Russian Rx history; human anxiolytic/nootropic literature |
| N-Acetyl Selank | Ac-Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro-NH₂ | 793.92 Da | SC (vendor positioning) | None for the analog |
| Adamax | N-acetylated, adamantane-modified Semax analog (spec disagreement: Ac-MEHFPGPAG-NH₂ vs. adamantylglycine ~1032 Da) | ~1032 Da (UNVERIFIED) | Nasal, SC | None |
| Dihexa | Ang IV derivative, N-hexanoyl/C-amidated tripeptide mimetic (PNB-0408) | 504.67 Da | Oral caps, vial, nasal | None; preclinical only (HGF/c-Met, picomolar potency) |
| P21 | CNTF-fragment mimetic | (see file) | SC (folklore) | None; preclinical only |
| Cerebrolysin | Porcine-brain-derived peptide mixture | Mixture | IV/IM (clinical) | Randomized trials in stroke/dementia/TBI |
| Cortexin | Bovine-brain polypeptide complex (Geropharm) | Mixture | IM (clinical) | Decades of Russian registered use; thin Western trials |
| FGL peptide | 15-aa NCAM-derived FGFR-binding loop | 1649.8 Da | SC (folklore) | None; preclinical only (LTP, rodent memory) |
| Noopept | Dipeptide mimetic, NOT a classic peptide (N-phenylacetyl-L-prolylglycine ethyl ester) | 318.4 Da | Oral capsules | Russian Rx for cognitive impairment; limited Western data |
| Pinealon | Tripeptide bioregulator, Glu-Asp-Arg (EDR) | 418.4 Da | SC (folklore) | None; no human PK data at all |
| PE-22-28 | 7-aa spadin fragment, GVSWGLR | 773.88 Da | SC (folklore) | None; preclinical only (TREK-1 IC₅₀ 0.12 nM) |
Value for money (observed street, 2026-09-20/21)
| Item | Typical price (per vial/bottle) | Cost-per-month feel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noopept | ~$25 / 60 caps (30 mg) | Cheapest in track by far | Oral, no reconstitution; ~$0.40/day at 30 mg/day |
| Semax | $30–75 / 10–30 mg vial | ~$1.90/day at 600 mcg/day (10 mg vial) | Pre-mixed sprays 4–7× cheaper per dose than vials |
| Selank | $30–75 / 10 mg vial or spray | Similar to Semax | UK/EU/SA listings broaden the range |
| N-Acetyl Semax | $50–130 / 30 mg spray | Premium over base Semax | Premium is for positioning, not evidence |
| N-Acetyl Selank | $40–75 / 10 mg | Top of the Selank line | No analog evidence to justify premium over native |
| Pinealon | $40–70 / 10 mg | Mid-pack | Tiny molecule: most µmol per dollar in track |
| PE-22-28 | $38–72 / 8–10 mg | Accessible frontier pricing | $285 prescription listing is an outlier |
| Adamax | $50–140 / 10 mg | Wide spread, markup chaos | $300 PDF-list outlier; spread reflects identity uncertainty |
| Dihexa | $67.50–90 / 10 mg vial; caps $133–148 | Capsule premium ~1.5–2× for least-validated format | Brain-blend tablets $395 (combo product) |
| P21 | $38–99 / 5 mg | Mid-range frontier | Scientificsean wiki: $38/5 mg US; €128 EU |
| Cortexin | $55–125 / 10 mg × 10 vials | Real pharma product pricing | Cheapest at RxEli ($55) |
| Cerebrolysin | €35–139 / ampoule packs | Real pharma product pricing | Ru-Pills 2 ml × 10 from €35.15 |
| FGL peptide | Street price not observed | Cannot compute | Lab-grade ref £347/10 mg (not a street price) |
Marketplace used range: not observed for any of the 13 items — reported honestly across all files; no used-market data was found.
Social sentiment matrix (qualitative — no invented counts)
| Item | Praise cluster | Complaint / failure cluster | Overall pulse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semax | BDNF/focus, drive, verbal fluency, stimulant-adjacent without stimulant signature | Overstimulation, irritability, wrong-variant mislabeling, vendor trust | Strongest anecdote node; flagship |
| N-Acetyl Semax | Longer-lasting positioning vs. base | Thin discussion; rides base molecule's file | Mid-tier, evidence gap |
| Selank | Calm focus, anxiolytic, pairs with Semax | Mishaps (spills), mild effect for some | Strongest anecdote node; the calm half |
| N-Acetyl Selank | Longer half-life positioning | No analog-specific discussion at all | Marginal SKU |
| Adamax | "Semax but longer-lasting" (one video) | Identity disagreement across vendors; hype marketing | Frontier, UNVALIDATED |
| Dihexa | "Rewiring," memory retrieval after weeks | Mood swings → discontinuation; no effect; source doubts | Split verdict, highest ceiling/lowest floor |
| P21 | CNTF mechanism interest | No reviews on main compound database; "approach with extreme caution" | Speculative edge |
| Cerebrolysin | Stroke/dementia/TBI literature; real pharma | Adverse-event discussion acknowledged; injectable-only | Strongest evidence node |
| Cortexin | Decades of Russian medical use | Weak-to-absent English social footprint | Real product, quiet community |
| FGL peptide | LTP/synaptic-plasticity mechanism | Anecdote trail frozen in 2014; one testimonial | Museum piece |
| Noopept | Clear-headed focus, memory, verbal fluency | Headaches, irritability, overstimulation, non-responders | Honest workhorse; most contested |
| Pinealon | Mood, sleep, clarity, vivid dreams | Footprint too thin for failure modes to emerge | Quiet bioregulator |
| PE-22-28 | TREK-1 mechanism curiosity | No human data; prescription-channel hype pricing | Watchlist, not a stack |
Use-case fit and risk matrix
| Item | Community use-case framing | Evidence grade | Risk flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semax | Focus/drive, BDNF | B (Russian trials) | Mislabeling variants; overstimulation; WADA S0 |
| N-Acetyl Semax | Longer-acting focus | D (no analog trials) | Identity confusion with base Semax |
| Selank | Calm focus, anxiety-adjacent | B (Russian trials) | Spill/pricing mishaps; mild effect |
| N-Acetyl Selank | Longer-acting calm | F (no analog data) | Pays premium for UNVERIFIED PK story |
| Adamax | Longer-acting Semax | F (no human data) | Vendor identity disagreement; markup chaos |
| Dihexa | Memory "rewiring" | F (preclinical only) | Mood swings; theoretical c-Met/cancer question |
| P21 | Neurogenesis frontier | F (preclinical only) | Zero review footprint; extreme caution |
| Cerebrolysin | Neuro-recovery (stroke/TBI/dementia) | A− (RCTs, but debated) | Injectable; adverse events real; Rx-only in sane markets |
| Cortexin | Neuro-recovery, pediatric (RU) | C (RU registered; thin Western data) | Bovine-derived; sourcing gray |
| FGL peptide | Synaptic plasticity | F (preclinical only) | Vendor copy mismatches molecule |
| Noopept | Daily focus/memory | C+ (RU registered; long user record) | Headaches, overstimulation; gray-market QA |
| Pinealon | Sleep/mood/clarity bioregulator | F (no human PK) | No safety signal in either direction |
| PE-22-28 | Mood/antidepressant frontier | F (preclinical only) | Prescription-channel claims UNVERIFIED |
Headline takeaways
- Two real medicines anchor the category: Semax, Selank, Cerebrolysin (and Cortexin in Russia, Noopept in Russia) have actual medical-registration histories. Everything else is a research chemical with no human validation.
- The acetylated analogs are evidence-free riders: N-Acetyl Semax and N-Acetyl Selank charge premiums over the native molecules while the human evidence belongs entirely to the native molecules. The analog half-life claims are UNVERIFIED.
- Adamax has an identity crisis: vendors disagree on what molecule "Adamax" is. Until per-vial COAs match a stated sequence, the price spread ($50–140) is markup chaos, not quality tiers.
- Dihexa is the highest-variance bet: the only compound with both genuine preclinical excitement (picomolar HGF/c-Met) and a community discontinuation signal (mood swings) plus a theoretical safety question (c-Met pathway) nobody can answer.
- Noopept is the category's honest outlier: a dipeptide mimetic, not a peptide; the cheapest, most-tried, most-contested compound — and the only one with a decade of user data documenting both benefits and harms.
- FGL and PE-22-28 are mechanism stocks: beautiful preclinical stories (LTP; TREK-1 at 0.12 nM), minimal-to-zero human community. PE-22-28 earned its place on social-pulse grounds (creators/vendors talking), not evidence.
- Cerebrolysin is the evidence outlier in the other direction: the only item with randomized human trials — but it's an injectable porcine-brain-derived pharmaceutical, not a casual nootropic.
- Marketplace reality: no used-market data was observed for any item; gray-market pricing is the only pricing, and vendor trust is the community's #1 pain point across the track.
Social-pulse summary
- Platforms searched this round: Threads (via
replikant.studio, account 17841463066084665), Facebook Groups (4 groups: "Peptides / Aminos / Nootropics / Biohacking / Longevity" 1616028606315809; "Peptides - information. Education. and sharing" 1538514733528689; "Peptide Community 101" 1031179420584990; "Peptides for Newbies" 2024570081483427), Instagram (connected but no general public topic search — no Instagram validation claimed), plus open-web forums (Longecity, Evolutionary.org, ExcelMale, ProfessionalMuscle, Looksmax), vendor pages, and the June-2026 GitHub hukus/llimitless community-dataset scans. - Facebook Groups contributed zero indexed hits this round across all queries (query-index limitation, treated as a search limitation, not evidence of absence).
- Threads drove the freshest signal: @uncle.lat's 2026-05-09 Semax/Selank explainer (86 likes, 44 replies) and @ganee's 2026-07-24 self-trial log (26 likes, 28 replies) — the two named owner-content anchors of the category.
- What drove each pick: Semax/Selank/Cerebrolysin = strongest anecdote-priority nodes in the June-2026 dataset scan; N-Acetyl Semax/Selank = established vendor SKUs riding the native molecules; Adamax/Dihexa/Pinealon = visible-but-de-ranked frontier hypotheses; P21 = CNTF-fragment frontier with explicit community caution; FGL = preclinical LTP mechanism with a frozen 2014 anecdote trail; Noopept = community staple dipeptide mimetic with the deepest user record; Cortexin = Russian registered neuro-peptide with thin English signal; PE-22-28 = the social-pulse extra — emerging creator/vendor discussion around the spadin/TREK-1 mechanism, no human validation found.
Report index
| # | Item | File | Validation tier | Images (views in img/) |
Regulatory status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semax | semax | Tier 1 | 8/8 — hero, side, rear, top, detail, scale, box, nasal-format | Rx in Russia; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 2 | N-Acetyl Semax | n-acetyl-semax | Tier 3 (flagged) | 5/8 — hero, side, rear, top, detail | Research chemical; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 3 | Selank | selank | Tier 2 | 7/8 — hero, side, rear, top, detail, scale, nasal-format | Rx history in Russia; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 4 | N-Acetyl Selank | n-acetyl-selank | Tier 3 / UNVALIDATED | 0/8 — none captured | Research chemical; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 5 | Adamax | adamax | Tier 3 / UNVALIDATED | 0/8 — none captured | Research chemical; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 6 | Dihexa | dihexa | Tier 3 | 0/8 — none captured | Research chemical; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 7 | P21 | p21 | Tier 3 | 0/8 — none captured | Research chemical; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 8 | Cerebrolysin | cerebrolysin | Tier 1 | 0/8 — none captured | Rx in many countries (not US); not FDA approved |
| 9 | Cortexin | cortexin | Tier 2 | 0/8 — none captured | Rx in Russia (Geropharm); not FDA/EMA approved |
| 10 | FGL peptide | fgl-peptide | Tier 3 / UNVALIDATED | 7/8 — hero, side, rear, top, detail, scale, box | Research chemical; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 11 | Noopept | noopept | Tier 2 | 5/8 — side, top, detail, scale, box | Rx in Russia; not FDA/EMA approved (US gray market) |
| 12 | Pinealon | pinealon | Tier 3 | 4/8 — hero, top, detail, box | Research chemical; not FDA/EMA approved |
| 13 | PE-22-28 | pe-22-28 | Tier 3 / UNVALIDATED | 5/8 — hero, side, rear, top, in-use | Research chemical; not FDA/EMA approved |
Totals: 13 files, 41 verified-valid JPEGs in img/ (0 AI-generated). No substitutions were made; PE-22-28 was the social-pulse addition. Every item states its regulatory status explicitly; every unsupported claim in the files is tagged UNVERIFIED; Marketplace used ranges were not observed for any item and are reported honestly as such.
Not medical advice. This is community research, not a recommendation. None of these compounds are FDA/EMA approved for cognitive enhancement; gray-market products carry quality, labeling, and legal risks. Talk to a clinician before considering any peptide.
Named sources
- Threads @uncle.lat — Threads drove the freshest signal:** @uncle.lat's 2026-05-09 Semax/Selank explainer (86 likes, 44 replies) and @ganee's 2026-07-24 self-trial log (26 likes, 28 replies) — the two named owner-content anchors of the category. (2026-05-09)
- Threads @ganee — Threads drove the freshest signal:** @uncle.lat's 2026-05-09 Semax/Selank explainer (86 likes, 44 replies) and @ganee's 2026-07-24 self-trial log (26 likes, 28 replies) — the two named owner-content anchors of the category. (2026-05-09)
- Facebook Groups — 4 groups: "Peptides / Aminos / Nootropics / Biohacking / Longevity" 1616028606315809; "Peptides - information. Education. and sharing" 1538514733528689; "Peptide Community 101" 1031179420584990; "Peptides for Newbies" 2024570081483427 — - **Platforms searched this round:** Threads (via `replikant.studio`, account 17841463066084665), Facebook Groups (4 groups: "Peptides / Aminos / Nootropics / B
- Threads group: Semax/Selank explainer — 86 likes, 44 replies
- Facebook group: Peptides / Aminos / Nootropics / Biohacking / Longevity — Facebook group ID 1616028606315809
- Facebook group: Peptides - information. Education. and sharing — Facebook group ID 1538514733528689
- Facebook group: Peptide Community 101 — Facebook group ID 1031179420584990
- Facebook group: Peptides for Newbies — Facebook group ID 2024570081483427
Source URLs were not recorded for these references.