Brain Enhancing -- or Brain Doping -- Drugs the Next Big Things for Academics to Students to Artists
by www.SixWise.com
A new wave of performance-enhancing drugs is coming in the
wake of drugs like steroids used in Major League Baseball
and elsewhere in athletics. But instead of bolstering your
muscles, stamina or physical abilities, these new drugs enhance
your brainpower.
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Brain-enhancing drugs may give you an edge over the
competition, but at what cost?
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Prescribed for things such as narcolepsy, attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and Alzheimer's, these highly
coveted drugs are being sought by artists, students, musicians,
executives, academics and more, all of whom are seeking an
intellectual or creative edge.
"Cosmetic Neurology"
The recent surge in mind-enhancing drugs has been compared
to the rage of plastic surgery. These drugs can take an otherwise
healthy brain to the next level of focus, concentration and
peace, much like a nose job can "perfect" a slightly
misshapen, yet perfectly good, nose.
You've probably tried the most popular brain-enhancing drug
out there: it's caffeine. Coffee
is the most common "food" consumed at breakfast
in America, according to the American Dietetic Association
-- a morning necessity for millions of people who could otherwise
not wake up or think straight in the morning.
The prescription drugs that follow, however, make coffee
seem like child's play, and are pushing the limits of what
a typical brain can do.
Modafinil:
Modafinil, a drug originally developed to treat narcolepsy,
is being prescribed off-label to a host of people who need
to stay awake, including those with other sleeping disorders,
depression and ADHD, people in the military and even those
with jet lag.
To put it simply, modafinil shuts off the urge to sleep.
Meanwhile, it allows you to stay just as alert as you would
normally feel. While side effects of the drug are said to
be minimal, the short- and long-term dangers
of not sleeping are well known.
Ritalin
and Adderall: These drugs are normally prescribed
to kids with attention deficit disorder (ADD). In people
with ADD, these drugs can be effective in helping them to
calm down, but in people without the condition, the drugs
have the opposite effect, stimulating the central nervous
system and acting a lot like speed.
While these drugs may increase your focus and concentration,
they may also increase your heart rate, blood pressure and
risk of cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death.
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Up to three-quarters of classical musicians may use
brain-enhancing drugs to calm their nerves before a
big performance or audition.
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Provigil: This narcolepsy drug improves concentration
and focus, but can also make users nervous, anxious and
prone to headaches.
Inderal and other beta-blockers: A beta-blocker
heart drug that blocks adrenaline receptors in your heart
and blood vessels, also blocks adrenaline receptors in your
brain. The drug can therefore calm your nerves and is used
widely among musicians prior to performances or during auditions.
One veteran flutist estimated that three-quarters of musicians
use the drugs -- which can also cause drowsiness, fatigue
and wheezing -- occasionally.
Aricept: An Alzheimer's drug used to slow mental
decline is used by healthy people to improve memory, perception
and judgment.
Will Brain Pills Become a Necessity?
The most obvious ethical dilemma surrounding brain-enhancing
drugs is their ability to alter the status quo. If everyone
at the office is taking modafinil and is able to meet deadlines
24-7, for instance, could you afford not to? Meanwhile, the
drugs could create different classes of humans, separated
by who could afford the drugs and who could not.
Drug companies are already hard at work to develop a blockbuster
"memory" pill that could reduce "senior moments"
and improve your brainpower. It could be that one day you'll
have to take brain pills just to keep up, and while no one
knows what the long-term impacts of drugging a healthy brain
would be, experts suggest that the risks wouldn't stop most
people.
"If there were drugs that actually made you smarter,
good Lord, I have no doubt that their use would become epidemic,"
said Dr. Charles Yesalis, a doping researcher and emeritus
professor at Pennsylvania State University, in the Los Angeles
Times.
"Just think what it would do to anybody's career in
about any area. There are not too many occupations where it's
really good to be dumb."
Recommended Reading
Drugs
with Potentially Psychotic Side Effects: Which Ones are They
(& Who Deserves to Know)?
The
Toxic Risks of Acetaminophen Every Consumer Should Know
Sources
Seattle
Times December 20, 2007
Guardian
Unlimited July 14, 2005