Cognitive Enhancing Drugs: Used Recklessly or Medically Recommended

Companies manufacturing these drugs then work around this by lobbying their drugs as cures for Alzheimer, ADHD, ADD, dementia, dyslexia, and other cognitive defects.

Memory dampening drugs are used when someone wants to forget or “dampen” the emotion that is associated with a memory, usually traumatic ones. The memory dampening drug that is most often discussed is called propranolol, it is used widely with those with PTSD. There is some debate about whether or not these memory dampening drugs are ethical for those using them. One organization on the end of the debate that believe memory dampening drugs are unethical and change people beyond who they truly are is the President’s Council of Bioethics (PCB), they are against the use of memory dampening drugs to suppress memory.

According to the lead author of the study, Sarina J. Grosswald Ed.D., "The effect was much greater than we expected". Improvements were found in attention, behavior regulation, memory and organization.

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

Lamkin, Matt. “A Ban On Brain-Boosting Drugs is Not the Answer”. Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology. 2nd ed. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. 640-642. Print.

Since the 20th century, many medical professionals and researchers have been attempting to utilize psychedelic drugs in psychological illnesses treatments. In many testing cases, these psychedelic drugs were having hallucination effects on the patients. For examples, psychedelic drugs such as LSD and methoxamine are capable of changing a person’s moods, feelings, or even behaviors in either positive or negative ways. However, after decades of restriction on psychedelic drugs in 1960s, hallucinogens have been researched constantly in order to find a proper ways to utilize them in medicine. In other words, medical experts have been testing these drugs occasionally on patients, raising questions about medical ethics as a result. For instance, various patients reported to experience drug addiction, violent or suicidal thoughts, and physical syndromes such as coma, seizures, or loss of muscular coordination. Therefore, not only the testing of psychedelic drugs causes ethical debates, but the use of these drugs in general also questions whether they should be used in medicine at all.

The FDA recently has allowed two treatments to be used for Alzheimer patients. One of the treatments is a Partial Glutamate Antagonist, which is an important transmitter to the brain. It is said that Glutamate helps patients more than sugar pills do, however; it is said that too much

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

She begins by focusing on the idea that using neuroenhancers is similar to antidepressants. While interviewing Seltzer he brings to her attention that “using neuroenhancers is like customizing yourself-customizing your brain. For some people, he went on, it was important to enhance their mood, so they took antidepressants, but for people like him it was more important to increase mental horsepower” (para. 15). Comparisons such as these smoothly lead Talbot into another important comparison-that in the 15 to 1600’s writers would use tobacco or saffron for neuroenhancing. In the 1800’s they talked about using copious amounts of coffee to stay awake and produce writings. Students today “are just the latest members of a seasoned cohort, even if they have more complex pharmaceuticals at their disposal” (para. 16). This is followed by her comparison of neuroenhancing to body enhancing with plastic surgery. Everyone who participates in body enhancing through plastic surgery knows the risks and complications that may come with it but choose to partake. Neuroenhancing is no different, with all the risks of using stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin spelled out it is the user’s choice to take part. By making all these comparisons it may make the reader believe that it is potential that neuroenhancing drugs may not be all the different then some of the other legal substances we use.

Cognition-enhancing drugs are nothing new to society today. The only thing that is changing is the development of these drugs and their intended purpose. Drugs in the medical sense are supposed to enhance our lives in a positive way by effecting the user psychologically. The use of drugs is usually to heal an illness or to compensate for something that is lacked. Drugs are extremely susceptible to abuse by the way that they can improve the well being of the user in some type of positive way. Drugs can have many different negative side effects that can potentially outweigh the positive side effects that the drugs possess. Cognition enhancing drugs can be used for many different purposes. Many of which can be for legitimate medical purposes ranging from helping to aid people with developmental conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, neurodegenerative

Though, fundamentally both are aiding in memory retention, I argue that the two scenarios are not similar in the least. While the college student may have an unfavorable gene in terms of memory retention, he or she is not disadvantaged nor is he or she likely to be suffering from a chronic disease. This difference, though it may be perceived as slight in terms of gene distinction is vital in the argument of whether the two previous scenarios are more ethically sound simply because they are both receiving a drug that enhances one’s memory functions.

Alzheimer's Disease is a condition that affects 50% of the population over the age of eighty five, which equals four million Americans each year. It is becoming an important and high-profile issue in today's society for everyone. There are rapid advancements being made in the fight against this disease now more than ever, and the purpose of this essay is to educate the public on the background as well as the new discoveries. There are many new drugs that are being tested and studied every day which slow down, and may even halt the progress of the disease.

There are many supernatural powers that individuals in this world wish they could have. For instance, the power to read minds, being invisible for the day, immortality which are all unobtainable. But what if with the help of a drug called Prevagen, a person who suffers from memory loss could sharpen their memory and have a faster response time during casual conversation. With the help of Prevagen, many people who suffer from mild memory loss as a result of aging can help restore memory. Extensive research has been done on this ground breaking new drug such as the Madison Memory Study which tested the active ingredient Apoaequorin (10mg), to see if this improved the quantitively measures in cognitive memory in community dwelling older adults.

They speed up the action of the brain. They make people feel more alert, more confident and less tired.