Cognition-enhancing drugs

[MedRower]

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Worried about your performance on the MCAT? Have no fear; neuroenhancing drugs are here.

Come on, everyone is doing it... http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080409/full/452674a.html

No, seriously, a significant number of academics have admitted using them. Does anyone else see this as interesting? Problematic?

 

[1956Goldtop]

caffeine = best enhancer ever.

 

[katarzyna]

adderall

woot woot

nahh, JK. no to abuse of drugs. 🙂

😀

you know, you shouldn't drink coffee too much. drink it only when you REALLY REALLY need it. Takes some days off from drinking it. Get your system "clean." I was caffeine dependent before and it's not good 😡.

 

[Aidan]

caffeine = best enhancer ever.

I'll be the first one to admit caffeine is awesome. I was diagnosed with ADD, which makes it very very hard to concentrate and not daydream about other stuff while trying to listen to lecture, read, and study. I had never read an entire book by myself before the age of 17. I can't afford ADD meds, so I decided to try to self-medicate with a cheaper stimulant... caffeine works very very well.

At the same time, though, I've become pretty highly addicted to it. I get extreme headaches when I don't have caffeine in my system, as well as some other unpleasant symptoms.

 

[Pantelich]

caffeine = best enhancer ever.

So, how much caffeine (or coffee) do you ingest on a daily basis?

 

[katarzyna]

At the same time, though, I've become pretty highly addicted to it. I get extreme headaches when I don't have caffeine in my system, as well as some other unpleasant symptoms.

That's how I was when I was caffeine dependent. I had headaches, and there were times that I got a little forgetful (e.g. I went downstairs but why am I here? what did I go downstairs for?) and I needed caffeine just to crap. 😡 LOL...

It was winter break and then I quit drinking it. Just now that I started again though I just drink it when I really need it.

 

[Schmitty]

As long as you don't go overboard, Caffeine isn't bad. It can even reduce your risk of CVD if you are a fast-metabolizer 🙂.

My gf and I order green beans on the internet, it is roasted and we pick it up the same day. Then every morning we grind enough for 1 cup each, make it in a french press, and drink one (relatively large) cup each.

Sometimes we have green tea in the afternoon, but otherwise that is all the caffeine we consume and I can't stand it when I don't get my coffee. Not because of the stimulatory effects, but because it tastes so damn goooood!

Also, I could never imagine taken prescription drugs to enhance academic performance...unless of course, you are diagnosed with a disorder.

Sleep is my performance enhancing 'drug'

 

[emttim]

As long as you don't go overboard, Caffeine isn't bad. It can even reduce your risk of CVD if you are a fast-metabolizer 🙂.

My gf and I order green beans on the internet, it is roasted and we pick it up the same day. Then every morning we grind enough for 1 cup each, make it in a french press, and drink one (relatively large) cup each.

Sometimes we have green tea in the afternoon, but otherwise that is all the caffeine we consume and I can't stand it when I don't get my coffee. Not because of the stimulatory effects, but because it tastes so damn goooood!

Also, I could never imagine taken prescription drugs to enhance academic performance...unless of course, you are diagnosed with a disorder.

Sleep is my performance enhancing 'drug'

Agreed. I don't drink coffee because I'm addicted to caffeine (although that helps)...I drink coffee because it's just so damn good. 😀 conversely though, if I don't get my coffee, **** can happen.

 

[njbmd]

Worried about your performance on the MCAT? Have no fear; neuroenhancing drugs are here.

Come on, everyone is doing it... http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080409/full/452674a.html

No, seriously, a significant number of academics have admitted using them. Does anyone else see this as interesting? Problematic?

I am sure that if you read this Nature article, you would see that everyone is not using these pharmaceuticals. They have a place in terms of the conditions where their use is indicated but all of those conditions involve some type of abnormal brain pathology (attention deficit, narcolepsy, shift work disorder).

There are load of folks (the vast majority) who go through undergraduate, graduate and medical school without using anything more than an occasional "cuppa Joe" or caffeinated soft drink. Many folks have given up (or seriously cut back) on caffeine because the caffeine-withdrawal headaches are no fun.

Anabolic steroid use made bodybuilders bigger and stronger but some of them died of cancer, had experiences with the criminal justice system or became mentally ill. Since the long-term effects of these so called "brain performance enhancing" medications are not known, do you really want to change your brain chemistry in ways that you might regret later especially since you don't know the long-term effects of these? I don't see any advantages to these pharmaceuticals unless you have a condition where they have been prescribed.