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Can Taking A Pill Make You Smarter?

(CBS) -- What if you could take one pill and feel instantly smarter, just like in the show "Limitless?" Would you do it? Does it even exist?

CBS 2's Marissa Bailey reports some people think they've found it.

"When I started taking it. it was like the lights came back on and I was able to do things I'd never been able to do," said Dave Asprey, CEO of Bulletproof Coffee.

Asprey says the pill modafinil did more for his daily brain fog than the coffee he created.

"I'd like to have this for those days when I just don't know if I can do it, and all of a sudden you can do it and you do it with ease.

The new CBS drama "Limitless" is all about a fictional drug that gives people super human intelligence. While modafinil users aren't claiming that, they do say it gives them an extra boost.

The drug was created to treat narcolepsy which causes extreme sleepiness and to help shift workers focus on little to no sleep. But well rested people are now taking it daily to perform better while at work.

A recent review of 24 studies reveals modafinil appears to enhance attention, learning and memory.

Short term side effects include anxiety, insomnia and aggression happened rarely.Long term effects are still unknown.

"I'm not a big fan of it personally for people that don't have problems," said Dr. Jon Grant, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Grant says modafinil isn't a miracle pill.

"I think that to call something a cognitive enhancer won't necessarily take somebody who knows nothing about a subject or something that they're doing and turn them into Einstein," Dr. Grant said.

It's common for doctors to prescribe medications for off-label use, but even without a prescription, you can get modafinil right on the Internet. $80 for 40 pills, all the way up to 300 pills for $313.

It appears there may be a market for it.

Well just any edge you can get in your work place is fantastic I would think, if it's safe," said Mike Perry.

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