What if you were told that you could take a pill that would increase your productivity and help you remember more? Sound too good to be true? Well, some claim it can be done with neuroenhancers.
Neuroenhancers, like Adderall, Ritalin and Provigil, are medications prescribed to treat disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, many people, especially college students, have been taking these neuroenhancers to improve their grades. Neuroenhancers are highly debated: in their effects, how they are obtained and whether they give an unfair advantage.
What are neuroenhancers?
Adderall is one type of neuroenhancer that has been used for off-label purposes. According to Drugs.com, Adderall is a central nervous system stimulant. It affects chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control.” Off-label users have obtained Adderall through doctor shopping, friends and online pharmacies.
What are the benefits?
Many choose to use neuroenhancers to stay awake, get work done and balance everything in their hectic lives. In an excellent article that brought the neuroenhancer debate to the forefront, Margaret Talbot of The New Yorker interviewed students, professors and professional why they take neuroenhancers. During her reporting, Talbot reveals how easy neuroenhancers are to obtain on the internet, and the allure that draws in stressed out college students. The users interviewed claimed that the neuroenhancers increased their learning abilities, and allowed them to work for hours on end without being exhausted.
Do they work?
In Talbot's article, she interviews many neuroscientists and psychologists who study the neurological effects of neuroenhancers. As one interviewed user pointed out, neuroenhancers do not make your smarter—but they help you retain more information. In one study, researchers found that participants who used neuroenhancers had an improvement in retention. Talbot states that “in the working-memory tests, subjects performed better on neuroenhancers, though several of the studies suggested that the effect depended on how good a subject's working memory was to begin with: the better it was, the less benefit the drugs provided.”
What are the dangers of neuroenhancers?
Neuroenhancers work by improving dopamine levels in the brain. If a patient has lower levels of dopamine, she would benefit cognitively from the boost of dopamine from the neuroenhancers. However, this also makes neuroenhancers very addictive. In Talbot's article, she notes that many users could not break their neuroenhancer habit.
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Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch received her bachelor’s of science degree in neuroscience from Trinity College in Hartford, CT in May 2009. She is the Hartford Women's Health Examiner and she writes about abuse on Suite 101.