Cognition Enhancing Drugs

Psychoactive drugs, such as stimulants have a lot to do with the alteration or manipulation of brain activity (Cherry, K., 2015). A good example of how stimulants can alter brain activity would be, after a person takes a drugs such is cocaine they may experience a feeling of elevated alertness temporarily. According toCherry, K. (2015), drugs that are classified as stimulants include: caffeine, narcotics, cocaine, amphetamines and prescription drugs. The most common legitimate use for stimulant that drugs, would be for ADHD. The most common illegal uses for stimulant drugs would be for sports, parties and college students (studying). Stimulants work by increasing the speed of the the messages going between the brain and the body by increasing the activity of the central nervous system

An older study conducted by Dr. Brian Reichow, adjunct professor at Yale University School of Medicine, and his colleagues discovered similar findings, “Methylphenidate, [a psychostimulant medication, was] effective for treating ADHD symptoms in children.”

(“ADD”) (Kinman). This is because children with ADHD have a lower brain volume than children who do not, especially in regions of the brain responsible for attention and emotion (Kinman). Dopamine and norepinephrine are neurotransmitters that help send messages between areas of brain associated with attention and motivation. The brain of a person with ADHD may have less of these chemicals available. This may explain why someone with ADHD has trouble paying attention or performing repetitive tasks. (Kinman) When people with ADHD are prescribed methylphenidate (a stimulant), it helps increase the amount of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. This increase in the level of neurotransmitters seems to improve attentiveness and motivation. Inattentive type symptoms include daydreaming, becoming easily confused, having difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others, seeming not to listen when spoken to, and more. Hyperactive-impulsive type symptoms may include fidgeting, talking nonstop, have trouble sitting still for sustained periods of time, being very impatient and

In a society where quantity of work overpowers quality of work, there is no wonder why "neuroenhancing" drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin are on the rise of consumption. As more people adopt the idea that these drugs are cognitively beneficial; the more they secretly use them for non-medical reasons. Margaret Talbot, a writer for The New Yorker, looks more into this problem in her article, "From Brain Gain: The Underground World of "Neuroenhancing" Drugs". Throughout this article Talbot focuses on a new trend of drug use, such as Adderall and Ritalin, for non-medical intentions. She focuses mainly on the increase of drug use by scholars and public intellectuals throughout her article. Talbot successfully proves to her audience that non-medical

Christopher Wanjek, author of Smart Pills: The Truth About Cognitive Enhancing Drugs, a columnist for Live Science and a health and science writer informs readers over the strict and malicious side effects of smart pills. Throughout the article the author illustrates the merit and ethics behind the use of a drug that can become a popular norm further in the future from advocates, such as college students. However, the author feels very appalled by this and continues to further elaborate on this by exclaiming that,“Ritalin is riddled with side effects, such as heart problems, and Adderall adds all the more to the mix, such as the risk of chemical dependency”( Christopher Wanjek, December 9, 2008, Para.2). In addition, to harmful affects the

Cognitive enhancing drugs, or nootropics, are a category of substances that have been purportedly shown to positively impact a user’s cognitive performance in areas such as memory, creativity, motivation, and attention1. Some cognitive enhancing drugs (CED) include common medications such as Adderall, methylphenidate, modafinil with the majority of these substances, either prescribed to patients who have attentional disorders such as ADD and ADHD or memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s due to these positive impacts on cognition. CEDs can additionally be obtained online or in store as over-the-counter supplements2 and are not only restricted to prescription medications. Due to the shown cognitive enhancement these

In my analysis I am going to analyze the effectiveness of Margaret Talbot’s argument in “Brain Gain: The Underground World of Neuroenhancing Drugs”. This article is about the use of stimulants as cognitive enhancers for high-functioning people and not the intended use for the drugs. The problem is whether or not these stimulants should be considered ethical for everyday use as a cognitive enhancer. Talbot effectively supports her argument that “neuroenhancers” should be allowed for everyday use through her use of testimonials and factual information/statistics that she provides in the article in order to convince her targeted audience that the assistance of a stimulant as a cognitive enhancer is beneficial.

Achievement is valued highly in our society. Coaches want their players to give 110 percent, professors encourage their students to study harder, and parents want to see their children become the best person they can be. Not only do we want to "keep up with the Joneses," we want to surpass them. In the pursuit of excellence, some people will take drugs as an enhancement for their cognitive abilities. What makes this path to excellence ethically questionable? There are two large issues to using cognitive enhancements: fairness and the pressure to use them. While there may be nothing intrinsically wrong with using cognitive enhancers, the use of these drugs will likely have major side-effects on society which need to be taken into

Many drugs have been developed to treat ADD and ADHD. One of these drugs is Methylphenidate otherwise known as Ritalin. It is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for treatment of ADD and ADHD. Use of Ritalin is up 700 percent since 1990 (ABC News). Other drugs also used in treatment of ADD and ADHD include Zoloft, Praxil, and Cylert. Ritalin is a drug that is used to restore neurotransmitters in those that lack or have malfunctioning nerve impulses in the

ABSTRACT. An ethics of enhancement should not rest on blanket judgments; it should ask us to distinguish between the kinds of activities we want to enhance. Both students and academics have turned to cognition-enhancing drugs in significant numbers—but is their enhancement a form of cheating? The answer should hinge on whether the activity subject to enhancement is zero-sum or non-zero-sum, and whether one is more concerned with excellence in process or excellence in outcome. Cognitive enhancement should be especially tolerated when the activities at stake are non-zero-sum and when the importance of process

According to the Surgeon General website, “Because the symptoms of ADHD respond well to treatment with stimulants, and because stimulants increase the availability of the neurotransmitter dopamine, the “dopamine hypothesis” has gained a wide following. The dopamine hypothesis posits that ADHD is due to inadequate availability of dopamine in the central nervous system. The neurotransmitter dopamine plays a key role in initiating purposive movement, increasing motivation and alertness, reducing appetite, and inducing insomnia, effects that are often seen when a child responds well to methylphenidate. The dopamine hypothesis has thus driven much of the recent research into the causes of ADHD.” (Surgeon General website). It does make sense that neurotransmitters are involved, since the mechanism of medications that seem to effectively reduce the symptoms of ADHD impacts the neurotransmitters. This may explain why these medications are effective for many people

Ritalin is currently prescribed to approximately six million people in the US. Of those six million, 75% of these are children, with boys receiving Ritalin about four times more often than girls. Ritalin is a drug that stimulates the central nervous system. It interacts with chemicals in the brain and nerves that give way to hyperactivity and impulse control. Not only is Ritalin used to treat ADD and ADHD, it is also used to treat a sleeping disorder called Narcolepsy, which is an uncontrollable desire to sleep, but there is another drug that given just as Ritalin, and it is called Adderall. Adderall is almost the exact same as Ritalin except it actually enters the cell and helps it produce more dopamine.

To add to that, the research that has been conducted on the disorder has led to a variety of effective treatments. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (2014) the most widely used medication is a stimulant. There is a wide variety of stimulants available for ADHD subjects. Although, with these stimulants come side effects including sleep problems, decreased appetite, anxiety and other diverse uncommon side effects (NIMH, 2014). Stimulants tend to calm children with ADHD. However, these medications can be detrimental to the patient in many ways. Certain medications have been subject to abuse, including Adderall and Ritalin. These medications are in some cases abused by patients who are over diagnosed. Since these patients do not have the disorder they can feel the side effects and use the drug to achieve a certain kind of high. When using these drugs for non-medical purposes they can seem to replicate the effects of cocaine

According to CMAP (2007), atomoxetine and methylphenidate have both been approved and have been associated with efficacy in comparison to placebo in treatment of ADHD in children. However, due to the public health concern of the risk of adverse effects such as cardiovascular events and/or abuse potential, research has been conducted to investigate the efficacy between atomoxetine versus methylphenidate.

Those children that are diagnosed with ADHD are usually prescribed psycho-stimulant medications, such as ‘methylphenidate’, otherwise known as ‘Ritalin’, as the primary method of treatment. (Chandler, 2010).