// The science · SCI-01
Your brain is a performance system. We engineer for the load it carries.
Clinical-dose actives across two complementary systems, measured on real teams in the real world. That is how we prove it.
Focus, pressure, broken sleep, and the physical cost of a full day all land on the same organ. Most brain supplements answer that with a stimulant and a marketing dose. This page is the opposite: the model we built CONKA around, and the evidence underneath it.
// The problem · SCI-02
Why most brain products fail
The category is crowded with products that look scientific and behave like sugar pills. Three failures show up again and again.
Caffeine theatre
Most brain products are a stimulant in a new bottle. Caffeine makes you feel switched on, but feeling wired is not the same as thinking better, and the crash takes back what it lent you.
Proprietary blends
A "proprietary blend" lists ingredients but hides how much of each. It almost always means the active is there in name only, dosed far below what the research used.
No mechanism, no proof
Big promises, no explanation of how, and no data to check. If a brand cannot tell you why an ingredient works or show you the evidence, the claim is marketing, not science.
We built CONKA the opposite way: named actives at clinical doses, a clear mechanism for each, and a model you can hold us to.
// The model · SCI-03
Two systems, one daily brain.
Nature already holds the answer in two complementary classes of active that do two different jobs. The catch is that raw, under-dosed, and badly combined, that potential stays on the shelf. The model below is the latent solution. What comes after is how CONKA realises it.
Adaptogens
Resilience to load, over time.
Adaptogens help the body hold its line under sustained stress, steadying the systems that fatigue, fray, and tip into burnout. The effect is not a hit you feel once. It builds with consistent use, raising the floor you operate from.
Nootropics
Acute cognitive performance.
Nootropics work on the performance itself, sharpening attention, processing speed, and recall when the demand is in front of you. This is the part you feel on the day, in the session, under the deadline.
It is also why CONKA comes in two formulas. Flow and Clear draw on both systems in different balances, each tuned to a different kind of demand. Neither is the lite version of the other.
// Education · SCI-04
Adaptogens and nootropics, explained.
Two classes of active, two different jobs. Here is what each one is, the ingredients behind it, and how it works in the body.
What are adaptogens?
Adaptogens are natural compounds that help your body adapt to stress instead of forcing a response the way a stimulant does. They nudge an overworked stress system back toward balance.
Adaptogens in the CONKA system
01Ashwagandha
Cortisol modulator
02Rhodiola rosea
Anti-fatigue
03Lemon balm
Calm without sedation
In plain terms
Think of them like a thermostat for stress. Rather than blasting heat or cold, they hold the room at a workable temperature.
What are nootropics?
Nootropics are compounds that support the brain's performance directly: how well you focus, how fast you process, how reliably you recall. They work on the machinery of thinking itself.
Nootropics in the CONKA system
01Alpha-GPC
Acetylcholine precursor
02Ginkgo biloba
Cerebral blood flow
03Alpha-lipoic acid
Cellular energy
In plain terms
Think of them less like fuel and more like tuning the engine. The same brain, running cleaner and responding faster.
// The solution · SCI-05
From the model to the shot.
The two systems are the theory. Flow and Clear are where it gets made real: two formulas drawn from the same model, built over years of formulation work, university research, and serious investment. No proprietary blends, no under-dosing, no fillers.
CONKA Flow
Energy without the crash
Sustained focus for training and work. No caffeine, no crash. The adaptogen side of the model, built to raise the floor you operate from.
per serving
Three of the hero actives
- AshwagandhaWithania somnifera
An adaptogen that helps lower cortisol and steady the stress response.
Peer-reviewed · PMID 23439798 ↗ - Rhodiola roseaRhodiola rosea
Pushes back on burnout and mental fatigue under sustained load.
Peer-reviewed · PMID 19016404 ↗ - Lemon balmMelissa officinalis
Calming without sedation, it takes the edge off while keeping you clear.
Peer-reviewed · PMID 16444660 ↗
CONKA Clear
Mental clarity and complete recovery
Sharpen performance when you need it, support recovery when you're done. The nootropic side of the model, for the demand in front of you.
per serving
Three of the hero actives
- Alpha-GPCL-Alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine
A bioavailable choline source that raises acetylcholine, behind focus and recall.
Peer-reviewed · PMID 12882463 ↗ - Ginkgo bilobaGinkgo biloba
Supports cerebral blood flow, getting more oxygen to working neurons.
Peer-reviewed · PMID 19395013 ↗ 
N-acetyl cysteineN-acetyl-L-cysteineRebuilds glutathione, the brain's master antioxidant, against oxidative stress.
Peer-reviewed · PMID 18436195 ↗
That is six of them. There are 16 in all.
Every active across both formulas, with the studies behind it, lives on the ingredients page.
// The evidence · SCI-06
A growing evidence base, from literature to live data.
Four kinds of evidence sit behind CONKA, and the base is still building in both breadth and depth: the published research on each active, our own early studies, a completed human trial, and live cognitive data from real teams that grows every week. Here is each one, and how far it goes.
- Rung 01 / 04Established literature
The research behind the actives
Every active earns its place from primary, peer-reviewed research, not a marketing trend. These are real, citable papers, already in hand.
Kennedy et al. 2003Lemon balm, mood and cognitionMix & Crews 2002Ginkgo biloba, cognitive functionWhyte & Williams 2015Bilberry, cognitive performanceBowtell et al. 2017Cerebral blood flowDodd et al. 2015Cerebral blood flowKennedy 2019Phytochemicals for cognition and sport - Rung 02 / 04Early research · preprint
Our own formulation research, Durham
Early model-organism work from our initial formula development, led by neuroscientists at Durham (Prof. Paul Chazot and Prof. Karen Hind), published as a preprint (manuscript 202411.0241).
- Rung 03 / 04Human trial · in write-up
Our human trial, Exeter
An eight-week double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised crossover trial of two CONKA formulae. Power-calculated to 60+ participants drawn from professional athletes and defence and security personnel. Three validated cognitive domains, attention, processing speed (CognICA), and short-term memory, delivered through the CONKA app three sessions a week against a matched placebo and a control.
It is currently in write-up. We will share the results once they are peer-reviewed and published.
- Rung 04 / 04Real-world data
Live data at scale
Continuous, app-measured cognitive data from live trials with sporting and corporate teams. Most recently, a cohort at Revolut.
Revolut · March 2026
9
Participants
129
Valid tests
75%
Improved (6 of 8)
+3.1
Avg. points
Early validation, growing every week. A real-world signal, not proof.
// The engine · How we keep proving it
The evidence above is not a one-off.
It is a system that keeps running. Every day of testing adds to the picture and feeds the next formula.
Measured every day
Wearable-connected cognitive testing through the app, not a one-off survey at the end of a study.
At real-world scale
Live testing across sporting and corporate teams, the participants most research struggles to reach.
It improves itself
Testing at this scale sharpens the measurement itself, which feeds back into a better product.
Neuroscience research
Cognitive testing (ICA)
Human trial
Real-world trial
Put it to the test
The science is the easy part to read. The proof is in the doing.
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