> There are no "brain enhancers"

I wholeheartedly agree with you that the article is indeed one big garbage advertisement, alas there is a large number of non-stimulatory substances which reliably enhance cognition in measures that can be readily quantified and telling people otherwise is spreading ignorance and misinformation.

First of all, virtually all Adaptogens are non-stimulant cognition enhancers, of which these are the most notable:

Bacopa - http://examine.com/supplements/Bacopa+monnieri/ Rhodiola - http://examine.com/supplements/Rhodiola+Rosea/

Second, there are the profound alas very situational cognition enhancers, such as:

Piracetam & Noopept in stroke victims, former Alcoholics (quite common) and as you pointed out the elderly. NSI-189 & PRL-8-53 for poverty-stricken adults who grew up sleep deprived and/or malnutritioned (common).

Then there are substances widely reported as helpful in healthy subjects, alas with insufficient studies:

Tianeptine, Centro & CDP/GPC Cholines, Sulbutiamine ...hell even Creatine is a slight cognitive enhancer.

Now - to your point: are any of these life changing? In damaged individuals, perhaps. Alas like you said in healthy young adults, many of these substances will produce either mild improvements or no improvements at all save for extreme neurological outliers.

But to claim that Stimulants are the only cognitive enhancers especially when you seem to've done some basic research... why?