A paper in Nature back in Dec 2007 talked about the use of brain boosting (cognitive enhancing) drugs in healthy people. A discussion and survey has continued at the Nature website regarding these brain boosting drugs.
Enhanced mental performance
The findings came from groups studying the use of cognitive enhancing drugs for the elderly especially Alzheimer’s patients. They found healthy people were taking drugs like Ritalin, Provigil or beta-blockers to enhance their mental performance.
Up to 1/5 of healthy adults may have taken such drugs to boost focus, concentration or memory according to the Nature survey. Since these drugs are not approved for such use, people are obtaining these drugs on the Internet or from physicians actually intended for other indications. No good data exists for long term safety of these drugs on healthy people.
Domaining or website opportunity
I have pointed out before that such controversial topics can generate a lot of interest especially o\if government has to step in to regulate such use or abuse. Domain names or websites that deal with this topic should start to gain more and more interest as this controversy becomes more public.
Controversy
So whats the big deal? A morning espresso is not unusual and no one starts complaining that this is a brain boosting drug. The controversy comes from two issues: safety and ethical.
Safety issue of using cognitive enhancing drugs
Without long term safety studies, we don’t know if students or workers will be adversely affected later in life. This is especially worrying in young children whose brains are still developing. Ritalin in particular has abuse potential and therefore lead to health issues. Normally when prescription drugs are used for things other than they were prescribed for, such use is prohibited and it is labeled abuse. Stronger laws or initiatives relating to such use may be on the cards from government bodies but perhaps the bigger effect on society is the ethical issue.
Ethical issue of using cognitive enhancing drugs
If such drugs do indeed enhance mental performance and there is evidence to support this, would students who use these drugs be at an advantage in exams? Would workers whose job involves complex mental tasks be at an advantage? Would shift workers who take these drugs be more alert and perform better than other workers?
If we assume yes to these questions, would everyone have equal access? What about those without the money to buy these drugs or without health-care? Is government going to step in to provide equal access? Will we start to see drug testing for students and workers that include such brain enhancing drugs?
Effect of brain boosting drugs on society
As society has become more complex, people have found themselves under more stress and such drugs may help them deal with their day just like their morning coffee. Society as a whole may benefit from greater productivity.
The darker side is that these drugs may only cover up problems dealing with stress, complex situations or underlying disorders. If someone, your coworker or fellow student, is taking such drugs, will you feel compelled to take them also to compete? Will it push people beyond their abilities and endurance?
It is interesting that unlike the recreational use of drugs, cognitive enhancing drugs are being used to push for greater achievement and performance. I wonder if that is an endorsement or a condemnation of our current society.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m wondering if you found any good ones. I am also following this thread from time to time-thinking that an info site would make a great portal to affilate congition enhancement products. But whenever I spot a likely candidate it’s been reg’d… And don’t we wish we’d nabbed hornygoatweed.com?
Best,
WW
Great post!
I’m a big fan of nootropics myself and have tried quite a few — Piracetam, Oxiracetam, Vinpocetine, Huperzine A. Lots of the pharmaceuticals already on the market (eg. Ritalin) have positive effects in healthy adults, just the same as those suffering from ADHD, enhancing focus/concentration.
DARPA is currently researching ampakines (such as CX-717)which seem to be the latest and greatest thing when it comes to brain building. Modafinil has become quite popular recently as well.
Woolwit: I agree. I have not found a good domain yet. What I have found is that a lot of the good domains in this area are parked or unused. The best way to get into this area would be to buy one of those. You could put bids in on several and see if you can drive down the price that way.
Reece: Interesting that you have tried them out. Is it sporadic use or regular? Are you concerned about side effects or long term problems?
Ampakines are interesting new small molecules being developed by various companies. With fewer side effects shown so far, they could really trigger the issues I mention in this post when the class of drugs comes to market.
thanks for you comments
Hi Barry,
I use them almost everyday.
There are some short term side effects I’ve already noticed — Oxiracetam and Huperzine A tend to make me often quite tired (which I often counter with 1-2 caffeine pills), insomnia often results (countered with 10-20mg of melatonin), Vinpocetine has lowered my blood pressure to the point where I’ve blacked out on one occasion. Oxiracetam also has a “speedy” effect to it which sometimes makes it difficult to focus.
Some positive effects I’ve noticed: Greatly enhanced memory ever since I started taking Huperzine A. Oxiracetam has made me feel more social and greatly improved verbal fluency. Vinpocetine, other than when I’ve been taking it in large doses appears to be the safest and has significantly heightened my senses.
Occasionally I potentiate the stack with alpha-GPC and this produces some very noticeable effects, however I’m weary of using an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (Huperzine A) with a source of choline. I’ve been yearning to try selegiline which I hear is one of the most effective, however being an irreversible MAO-B inhibitor has me a bit worried.
Ampakines are prohibitively expensive at the moment, however they certainly look promising.
I do worry about the long term effects, however, the benefits simply outweight the risks for me.
Reece, that is quite a list. I would be worried about all the different things you are taking because risks multiply with combinations and can lead to unpredictable side effects. While these aren’t something I could endorse, I wish you all the best and good health.
Barry