AS A teenager, Laurie Pycroft made headlines across the globe with his support for animals being used in research at Oxford University.

In a strange irony, the boy who supported animal experiments has at 22 ended up turning himself into a human guinea pig.

Mr Pycroft has been taking cognitive-enhancing drugs to discover the effect on his brain.

As a second year Oxford University student studying physiological sciences, he has developed a special interest in neuropharmacology.

This has extended to taking the drug modafinil to assess whether it could boost his mental powers and performance.

Mr Pycroft, from Swindon, said he decided to take modafinil to test its ability to keep him awake for long periods.

He said: “I’ve taken it a few times, out of curiosity.

“The effects can vary, but for me I found that it improved my concentration and allowed me to stay awake for significant periods of time.

“The US military have tested it on fighter pilots. Everything suggests that it increases focus and memory although it might reduce creative thoughts. So it might be good for revising but not so good writing an exam paper.

“The jury is still out on that.

“As I understand it, it is legal to purchase modafinil but not to sell.

“I certainly would not recommend any drugs to anybody. It is up to each individual to choose what chemicals they want to put in their body.”

An anonymous questionnaire undertaken by Newsnight and New Scientist was completed by 761 people, with 38 per cent saying they had taken cognitive enhancing drugs. Of these 40 per cent said they had bought the drug online and 92 per cent said they would try again.

Mr Pycroft is now considering choosing cognitive drugs as the subject of his extended essay.

The Pro-Test group, which he created at the age of 16 in 2006, was officially disbanded earlier this year. For him the opening of the university’s Biomedical Science Building effectively signalled mission accomplished.

Mr Pycroft never sat A-Levels. Instead he went to Swindon College to complete access courses, designed for people who leave school without the usual qualifications, before completing his BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT), a subject-specific admissions test, to get into Oxford.

Mr Pycroft is well aware that some regard his place at Balliol – secured without any A-Levels – as some kind of “payback” for his past services to university science.

He said: “First I would say I was careful not to mention Pro-Test in the interview or my statements.

“In the end of year exams I got a distinction in the neuro-science examination, which I think is a reasonable indication that there are just reasons for me to be here. The impression I get is that tutors look for passion rather than just people who do well in tests.”