Aniracetam is a fat-soluble racetam developed by Hoffmann-La Roche as Ro 13-5057 and later sold in Italy and Japan for dementia symptoms.
Amounts reported for Aniracetam are listed under Reported protocols, each with its source and study kind. No amount ladder is inferred from them. This is educational source context, not a protocol or recommendation.
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Human study rows are described per source under Reported protocols; they belong to their trial populations and are not a general amount.
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What published studies and recent community write-ups report about amounts, timing and course length. 4 clinical, 3 preclinical and 3 community-reported rows, each linked to its source. These are descriptions of what others report, not instructions, and nothing here is medical advice.
| Context | Dose | Frequency | Route | Course | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical4 rows | |||||
| Registered dose in dementia trials (review of human data)Elderly patients with mild to moderate senile dementia of the Alzheimer type | 1500 mg per day | Daily, divided into two or three doses in the registered product | Oral | 4-6 months in the placebo-controlled trialsNone described | Drugs and Aging (PubMed)1994 |
| This Drugs and Aging review records that 1500 mg a day beat placebo on all tests at 4 and 6 months, and beat piracetam 2400 mg a day on 8 of 18 tests in a further 6-month trial. The underlying placebo-controlled trial enrolled 109 patients for 6 months. The reviewers called for confirmatory trials that never appeared in Western journals, and the figure is a dose for dementia patients, not for healthy adults. | |||||
| Open comparison against cholinesterase inhibitors276 patients with cognitive disorders (mean age 71), of whom 58 received aniracetam alone | 1500 mg per day (fixed dose from the prescribing information) | Daily | Oral | 12 months, with assessments at 3, 6 and 12 monthsNone described | CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics (PubMed Central)2012 |
| In this prospective open-label Greek study, patients on aniracetam held their neuropsychological scores at 6 and 12 months while patients on cholinesterase inhibitors declined at 12 months, and aniracetam did better on cognition at 6 months in those with milder dementia. The study was not randomised or blinded, so the comparison is suggestive rather than conclusive. | |||||
| Human pharmacokinetics (bioequivalence study)20 healthy Chinese men | 400 mg single dose (two 200 mg capsules) | Single dose, two formulations with a 3-day washout | Oral, fasting | Single doseNot applicable | Arzneimittelforschung (PubMed)2008 |
| Plasma aniracetam peaked at about 0.4 hours and disappeared with a half-life of roughly 0.47-0.49 hours, with peak concentrations under 10 ng/mL. The parent compound is therefore almost gone within a couple of hours, and its longer-lived metabolites are thought to carry most of the activity, which is why every protocol splits the daily total. | |||||
| Supplement market analysis10 over-the-counter cognitive enhancement products bought online in the United States | Up to 502 mg of aniracetam per recommended serving; the paper quotes 200-750 mg as the typical pharmacologic dose | As labelled on the products | Oral capsules and tablets | Not applicableNot applicable | Neurology: Clinical Practice (PubMed)2021 |
| Mass spectrometry found aniracetam and omberacetam in the products along with three undeclared unapproved drugs (phenibut, vinpocetine and picamilon); some declared drugs were absent and 9 of 12 stated quantities were wrong. The authors stress that none of these four racetam-class drugs is approved for human use in the United States. | |||||
| Preclinical3 rows | |||||
| Healthy adult miceNaive adult C57BL/6J mice | 50 mg/kg | Once daily | Oral | Daily dosing through a battery of behavioural testsNot applicable | PLoS One (PubMed)2014 |
| Spatial learning, fear conditioning, motor learning, odour discrimination, locomotion, anxiety and repetitive behaviour were all unchanged against placebo. The authors wrote the study with self-administering healthy humans in mind and concluded that aniracetam does not alter behaviour in normal mice. | |||||
| Traumatic brain injury in ratsRats with moderate fluid percussion brain injury | 25 or 50 mg/kg | Once daily | Systemic injection | 15 days, including a course started 11 days after injuryBenefit was lost when dosing stopped before water-maze testing | Journal of Neurotrauma (PubMed)2006 |
| Both doses reduced injury-induced water-maze deficits, and treatment that began on day 11 after injury still brought performance to sham levels. Rats whose treatment ended before testing performed no better than controls, which suggests the effect depends on ongoing exposure rather than lasting repair. | |||||
| Anxiety models in miceMice in social interaction, elevated plus-maze and conditioned fear tests | 10-100 mg/kg | Single administration before testing | Oral | AcuteNot applicable | European Journal of Pharmacology (PubMed)2001 |
| Aniracetam was anxiolytic in all three models, an effect blocked by dopamine D2, nicotinic and 5-HT2A antagonists, and several of its metabolites reproduced parts of the effect. This is the preclinical basis for the calming reputation the compound has in community write-ups. | |||||
| Community-reported3 rows | |||||
| Community dose range and timing | 750-1,500 mg per day, most often 750 mg twice daily | 2-3 doses a day because of the short half-life | Oral, taken with a meal or fat source; often paired with alpha-GPC or citicoline | Not specifiedNot specified | Community resource2026 |
| This UK reference page describes the common protocol as 750 mg twice a day with fat, and lists headache, mild stomach upset and late-day insomnia as the usual complaints. Its dosing figures mirror the 1500 mg a day used in dementia trials rather than any study in healthy users. | |||||
| Community dose ladder and cycle plan | 400-750 mg (entry), 750-1,500 mg (common), 1,500-2,400 mg (high) per day | Twice daily, morning and early afternoon, split because the parent half-life is under an hour | Oral with a fatty meal, each dose paired with 300 mg alpha-GPC or 250 mg CDP-choline | 4-8 weeks on for daily use; 8-12 weeks to mirror the clinical trials1-2 weeks off, or a 5 days on, 2 days off weekly pattern | Community resource2026 |
| This 2026 guide builds its ladder around the 1500 mg a day trial dose and argues that cycling is for subjective tolerance rather than safety, reporting that the mood lift fades after 6-10 weeks of daily use. It flags seizure disorders, severe liver disease and MAOI use as hard contraindications. All of this is community practice, not trial data. | |||||
| Vendor research-use listing | 400 mg per capsule (labelled), 420.54 mg measured on the latest certificate | Not stated (sold for laboratory research only) | Oral capsule format | Not statedNot stated | Community resource2026 |
| Vendor claim. The vendor lists aniracetam capsules with an ISO 17025 laboratory certificate for lot 5513X (HPLC purity 99.92 percent) and links to the PubMed literature, but gives no dosing information and states the product is not for human consumption. | |||||
Community guides start at 400-750 mg once in the morning with a fatty meal to check tolerance, adding a choline source from the first dose to head off the headache that users most often report.
The common pattern is 750 mg twice a day, morning and early afternoon, which adds up to the 1500 mg a day used in the dementia trials. Effects are described as immediate rather than cumulative because the parent compound clears within hours.
The trials behind the 1500 mg figure ran 4-6 months in elderly dementia patients, and the 2012 open study followed patients for 12 months on the same fixed dose. No study has tested any schedule in healthy adults, and the one healthy-animal study found no effect.
Plus 3 community resources (dosing guides, forum threads and vendor write-ups), reported above but not linked.
Aniracetam is a fat-soluble racetam developed by Hoffmann-La Roche as Ro 13-5057 and later sold in Italy and Japan for dementia symptoms. Its human evidence comes from 1990s trials in elderly patients with Alzheimer-type or cerebrovascular cognitive impairment at a fixed 1500 mg a day, plus a 2012 open comparison in 276 patients, while a 2014 mouse study found no effect at all in healthy animals. It has a parent half-life of about half an hour in people, is not approved in the United States, and has been found in over-the-counter supplements at up to 502 mg per serving.
These themes describe recurring questions in published research. They are not claims of effectiveness or recommendations for use.
Neuroplasticity, cognition, stress and sleep models.
This Drugs and Aging review records that 1500 mg a day beat placebo on all tests at 4 and 6 months, and beat piracetam 2400 mg a day on 8 of 18 tests in a further 6-month trial. The underlying placebo-controlled trial.
In this prospective open-label Greek study, patients on aniracetam held their neuropsychological scores at 6 and 12 months while patients on cholinesterase inhibitors declined at 12 months, and aniracetam did better on.
Plasma aniracetam peaked at about 0.4 hours and disappeared with a half-life of roughly 0.47-0.49 hours, with peak concentrations under 10 ng/mL. The parent compound is therefore almost gone within a couple of hours.
Mass spectrometry found aniracetam and omberacetam in the products along with three undeclared unapproved drugs (phenibut, vinpocetine and picamilon); some declared drugs were absent and 9 of 12 stated quantities were.
Spatial learning, fear conditioning, motor learning, odour discrimination, locomotion, anxiety and repetitive behaviour were all unchanged against placebo. The authors wrote the study with self-administering healthy.
Study models remain visible so laboratory and animal findings are not mistaken for established human outcomes.
4 protocol rows on this page come from human trials, trial registrations, regulator labels or reviews of human data. Approval status and populations are stated per row.
3 protocol rows describe animal, cell or toxicology work. Amounts from these rows do not translate to people.
3 rows record what blogs, vendor write-ups or forums describe for Aniracetam. None has been verified against primary literature.
Sequence, synonyms and registry identifiers as recorded in PubChem, the National Library of Medicine's open chemistry database. Formula, mass and CAS number are summarized at the top of the page.
Ro 13-5057, Draganon, Sarpul, Ampamet, 1-p-Anisoyl-2-pyrrolidinone, 1-(4-Methoxybenzoyl)-2-pyrrolidinone, UNII 5L16LKN964, CHEBI:47943
ZXNRTKGTQJPIJK-UHFFFAOYSA-N
1-(4-methoxybenzoyl)pyrrolidin-2-one
8 curated references, each with its journal, year and study model, plus 3 community resources reported but not linked.