Psychology in Contemporary Society - SMART Drugs

PS1810 Psychology in Contemporary Society

Can 'SMART drugs' make you smarter?

MODAFINIL

Benefits?

• Increase memory & planning
• Wakefulness
• Seems harmless short-term
• Easily obtained
• Only minor effect (smaller ethical implications)

Disadvantages?

• Long-term effects?
• Not controlled for recreational use/cognitive enhancing
• Impact on society long-term - need for enhancement
• Risk buying on the internet

Video Experiment - Problems

• Single person experiment (case study)
• Practice effects
• Extraneous factors (how rested/motivated/distracted was she?)

Overall - She didn't feel any different on or off modafinil.

Cognitive Enhancing Drugs

Examples

• Modafinil
• Ritalin
• Adderall

Prescribed for the treatment of ADHD

• Drugsincreased executive functions (EF) - improved attention, better working memory & more flexibility in thinking & responding

Treatment for fatigue - Modafinil

• Prescribed for fatigue related to narcolepsy, sleep apnea & shift-work sleep disorder
• Can improve EF (inhibitory control - ability to inhibit or control impulsive or automatic responses)

Modafinil - Effects

• Regulates wakefulness
• Has an effect on various neurotransmitters
• Notably blocks the dopamine transporter (DAT1) which increases available dopamine
  

Dopamine

• Associated with reward mechanisms in the brain
• Cocaine & alcohol increase levels of dopamine
• Feels good -> probably dopamine

Prefrontal Cortex

• Involved in 'higher' cognitive functions
• Self-regulation, behavioural control, planning, working memory & control of attention

Sub-cortical Areas

• Detection of rewarding stimuli
• Response to those rewards
• Motivation for seeking out such rewards
• Communicates to memory centres to seek out such rewarding experiences in future

Drug Action

• MPH (Ritalin) & AMP (Amphetamine) increase levels of dopamine & noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex & in cortical & sub-cortical regions projecting to it (Wilens, 2006)
• They activate the brain's reward system & potential for dependence
• Modafinil acts in a similar way but is thought to be less addictive
• MPH (Ritalin) & AMP (Amphetamine) are banned from sports competitions by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Docherty, 2008)

Legal Considerations

MODAFINIL

• Prescription only
• Not a controlled substance
• Possession without prescription is not illegal
• Offence to supply (even if offering away for free!)

MPH/AMP

• Prescription only
• Controlled substance
• Class B drug
• Possession without prescription is illegal

Side Effects

• Fever, sore throat, headache & vomiting with severe blistering, peeling & red skin rash
• Bruising, severe tingling, numbness, pain & muscle weakness
• Easy bruising/bleeding

Evidence for Effectiveness

Do MPH/AMP enhance learning?

Smith & Farah (2011) examined the literature to determine whether MPH/AMP have an enhancing effect…