scholarly journals Seeking more than health: Using medicine for enhancement

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-90
Author(s):  
Nada Gligorov
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Moral Permissibility ◽  
Performance Enhancers ◽  
Psychopharmacological Agents ◽  
Case Basis

The purpose of this essay is to examine some of the ethical concerns raised regarding the use of neuroenhancers. Authors such as Fukuyama and Sandel argue that medical intervention should be limited to treatment of disease, and that enhancement should be outside of the scope of medicine. This commentary will examine the distinction between treatment and enhancement. I shall conclude that it is not a well-drawn distinction and should not be used to provide guidance with regards to the use of psychopharmacological agents for the purpose of cognitive enhancement. I shall further examine whether concepts such as disability and normality could provide a criterion for determining whether enhancement is a permissible use of medical intervention. I conclude that as those concepts are contextually defined, they cannot be used to make principled arguments against enhancement. Finally, I shall review the charge that medicalization of cognitive performance enhancers is not morally permissible. I shall argue that medicalization might have both negative and positive consequences, and decisions about the moral permissibility of medicalization should be made on a case-by-case basis.

Beyond an Open Future

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENNY I. KRUTZINNA
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Open Future ◽  
Moral Permissibility ◽  
Ethical Approach ◽  
Welfare Of The Child ◽  
Moral Assessment

Abstract:Discussions about the ethical permissibility of pediatric cognitive enhancement frequently revolve around arguments about welfare, and often include an appeal to the child’s right to an open future. Both proponents and opponents of cognitive enhancement claim that their respective positions best serve the interests of the child by promoting an open future. This article argues that this right to an open future argument only captures some of the risks to the welfare of children, therefore requiring a broader ethical approach. Further, it suggests that a thorough moral assessment of the ends pursued is needed before concluding on the moral permissibility of cognitive enhancement in children, which ultimately hinges on the effect on the overall welfare of the child, beyond an open future.

Cognitive Enhancement Mediated Through Postsynaptic Actions of Norepinephrine on Ongoing Cortical Activity

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1739-1775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamu Hoshino
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Dynamic Property ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Cortical Activity ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
The Neural Network ◽  
Higher Doses ◽  
The Brain

We propose two distinct types of norepinephrine (NE)-neuromodulatory systems: an enhanced-excitatory and enhanced-inhibitory (E-E/E-I) system and a depressed-excitatory and enhanced-inhibitory (D-E/E-I) system. In both systems, inhibitory synaptic efficacies are enhanced, but excitatory ones are modified in a contradictory manner: the E-E/E-I system enhances excitatory synaptic efficacies, whereas the D-E/E-I system depresses them. The E-E/E-I and D-E/E-I systems altered the dynamic property of ongoing (background) neuronal activity and greatly influenced the cognitive performance (S/N ratio) of a cortical neural network. The E-E/E-I system effectively enhanced S/N ratio for weaker stimuli with lower doses of NE, whereas the D-E/E-I system enhanced stronger stimuli with higher doses of NE. The neural network effectively responded to weaker stimuli if brief γ-bursts were involved in ongoing neuronal activity that is controlled under the E-E/E-I neuromodulatory system. If the E-E/E-I and the D-E/E-I systems interact within the neural network, depressed neurons whose activity is depressed by NE application have bimodal property. That is, S/N ratio can be enhanced not only for stronger stimuli as its original property but also for weaker stimuli, for which coincidental neuronal firings among enhanced neurons whose activity is enhanced by NE application are essential. We suggest that the recruitment of the depressed neurons for the detection of weaker (subthreshold) stimuli might be advantageous for the brain to cope with a variety of sensory stimuli.

scholarly journals In search of optimal psychoactivation: stimulants as cognitive performance enhancers

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emil Bartosz Rozenek ◽  
Monika Górska ◽  
Karolina Wilczyńska ◽  
Napoleon Waszkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Beneficial Effect ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Optimal Level ◽  
Behavioural Effects ◽  
Neurochemical Profile ◽  
Performance Enhancers ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dose Dependent

AbstractAn increasing number of people, students in particular, seek substances that improve their cognitive functioning. The most popular group of pharmacological cognitive enhancers (PCEs) are stimulants. Available studies suggest a small beneficial effect of methylphenidate and amphetamine on memory, executive functions, and processing speed. However small, this effect can make the difference between success and failure. In recent years, research has focused on the additional beneficial effect on the emotional state, increased motivation, and placebo-induced cognitive enhancement. This paper briefly reviews the latest and most important research on the relationship between popular stimulants and cognitive enhancement. One cannot understand this relationship without understanding the Yerkes-Dodson law, which explains the relationship between the degree of arousal and performance. It suggests that the effect of stimulants is a dose-dependent continuum. This law has repeatedly been confirmed by studies in which an optimal level of psychoactivation for cognitive enhancement was obtained with low stimulant doses, whereas exceeding the effective dose resulted in cognitive deficits, psychomotor agitation, and addiction. A separate section has been devoted to modafinil, an increasingly popular stimulant that differs from the rest in neurochemical profile and behavioural effects.

scholarly journals Effect of Critical Thinking on Cognitive Enhancement

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-121
Author(s):  
Gurpreet Kaur ◽  
Soumi Awasthy ◽  
Usama Ghayas Syed
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Training Module ◽  
Paired Sample ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Assessment

Cognitive abilities refer to brain based skills that are required to carry out any task ranging from the simplest to the most complex. Since these skills play a significant role in our day to day activities, efforts are being made by researchers for their further enhancement. The objective of the present study was to investigate if these abilities can be enhanced through a training module on critical thinking. Critical thinking involves something more than cognitive skills. Critical thinking is not static but a constantly evolving process and even more crucial in a military environment. This study consists of certain activities which are designed in such a manner that the solution of it can be generated through critical thinking. These activities were administered on 36 participants (20 male, 16 female). Each Participant’s baseline cognitive performance was assessed after which training was given to them in the form of different critical thinking activities followed by post assessment of cognitive abilities. Paired sample t - test was used which showed that There was a significant difference in the cognitive performance post critical thinking activities.

Clinical Efficacy of a New Automated Hemoencefalographic Neurofeedback Protocol

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 930-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro Machado Dias ◽  
Adrian Machado Van Deusen ◽  
Eduardo Oda ◽  
Mariana Rodrigues Bonfim
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Digital Signal ◽  
Controlled Clinical Trial ◽  
Brain Maps ◽  
One Year ◽  
Neurologically Intact

Among the ongoing attempts to enhance cognitive performance, an emergent and yet underrepresented venue is brought by hemoencefalographic neurofeedback (HEG). This paper presents three related advances in HEG neurofeedback for cognitive enhancement: a) a new HEG protocol for cognitive enhancement, as well as b) the results of independent measures of biological efficacy (EEG brain maps) extracted in three phases, during a one year follow up case study; c) the results of the first controlled clinical trial of HEG, designed to assess the efficacy of the technique for cognitive enhancement of an adult and neurologically intact population. The new protocol was developed in the environment of a software that organizes digital signal algorithms in a flowchart format. Brain maps were produced through 10 brain recordings. The clinical trial used a working memory test as its independent measure of achievement. The main conclusion of this study is that the technique appears to be clinically promising. Approaches to cognitive performance from a metabolic viewpoint should be explored further. However, it is particularly important to note that, to our knowledge, this is the world's first controlled clinical study on the matter and it is still early for an ultimate evaluation of the technique.

Early markers of cognitive enhancement: developing an implicit measure of cognitive performance

2013 ◽  
Vol 230 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbie Pringle ◽  
Michael Browning ◽  
Elizabeth Parsons ◽  
Phil J. Cowen ◽  
Catherine J. Harmer
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Implicit Measure ◽  
Early Markers

scholarly journals How Pills Undermine Skills: Moralization of Cognitive Enhancement and Causal Selection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilian Mihailov ◽  
Blanca Rodríguez López ◽  
Florian Cova ◽  
Ivar Rodríguez Hannikainen
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Causal Contribution ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Causal Selection

Despite the promise to boost human potential and wellbeing, enhancement drugs face recurring ethical scrutiny. The present studies examined attitudes toward cognitive enhancement in order to learn more about these ethical concerns, who has them, and the circumstances in which they arise. Fairness-based concerns underlay opposition to competitive use—even though enhancement drugs were described as legal, accessible and affordable. Moral values also influenced how subsequent rewards were causally explained: Opposition to competitive use reduced the causal contribution of the enhanced winner’s skill, particularly among fairness-minded individuals. In a follow-up study, we asked: Would the normalization of cognitive enhancement alleviate concerns about its unfairness? Indeed, proliferation of competitive cognitive enhancement eradicated fairness-based concerns, and boosted the causal role of the winner’s skill. In contrast, purity-based concerns emerged in both recreational and competitive contexts, and were not assuaged by normalization.

scholarly journals Cognitive enhancement effects of stimulants: a randomized controlled trial testing methylphenidate, modafinil, and caffeine

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitris Repantis ◽  
Leonore Bovy ◽  
Kathrin Ohla ◽  
Simone Kühn ◽  
Martin Dresler
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Test Battery ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Positive Effects

Abstract Rational At all times humans have made attempts to improve their cognitive abilities by different means, among others, with the use of stimulants. Widely available stimulants such as caffeine, but also prescription substances such as methylphenidate and modafinil, are being used by healthy individuals to enhance cognitive performance. Objectives There is a lack of knowledge on the effects of prescription stimulants when taken by healthy individuals (as compared with patients) and especially on the effects of different substances across different cognitive domains. Methods We conducted a pilot study with three arms in which male participants received placebo and one of three stimulants (caffeine, methylphenidate, modafinil) and assessed cognitive performance with a test battery that captures various cognitive domains. Results Our study showed some moderate effects of the three stimulants tested. Methylphenidate had positive effects on self-reported fatigue as well as on declarative memory 24 hours after learning; caffeine had a positive effect on sustained attention; there was no significant effect of modafinil in any of the instruments of our test battery. All stimulants were well tolerated, and no trade-off negative effects on other cognitive domains were found. Conclusions The few observed significant positive effects of the tested stimulants were domain-specific and of rather low magnitude. The results can inform the use of stimulants for cognitive enhancement purposes as well as direct further research to investigate the effects of stimulants on specific cognitive domains that seem most promising, possibly by using tasks that are more demanding.

scholarly journals A Preclinical Model of Computerized Cognitive Training: Touchscreen Cognitive Testing Enhances Cognition and Hippocampal Cellular Plasticity in Wildtype and Alzheimer’s Disease Mice

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Shepherd ◽  
Tracy Zhang ◽  
Lucas B. Hoffmann ◽  
Ariel M. Zeleznikow-Johnston ◽  
Leonid Churilov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Preclinical Model ◽  
Cellular Plasticity ◽  
Proliferating Cells ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease

With the growing popularity of touchscreen cognitive testing in rodents, it is imperative to understand the fundamental effects exposure to this paradigm can have on the animals involved. In this study, we set out to assess hippocampal-dependant learning in the APP/PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) on two highly translatable touchscreen tasks – the Paired Associate Learning (PAL) task and the Trial Unique Non-Matching to Location (TUNL) task. Both of these tests are based on human tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) and are sensitive to deficits in both mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD. Mice were assessed for deficits in PAL at 9–12 months of age, then on TUNL at 8–11 and 13–16 months. No cognitive deficits were evident in APP/PS1 mice at any age, contrary to previous reports using maze-based learning and memory tasks. We hypothesized that daily and long-term touchscreen training may have inadvertently acted as a cognitive enhancer. When touchscreen-tested mice were assessed on the Morris water maze, they showed improved task acquisition compared to naïve APP/PS1 mice and wild-type (WT) littermate controls. In addition, we show that touchscreen-trained WT and APP/PS1 mice show increased cell proliferation and immature neuron numbers in the dentate gyrus compared to behaviorally naïve WT and APP/PS1 mice. This result indicates that the touchscreen testing paradigm could improve cognitive performance, and/or mask an impairment, in experimental mouse models. This touchscreen-induced cognitive enhancement may involve increased neurogenesis, and possibly other forms of cellular plasticity. This is the first study to show increased numbers of proliferating cells and immature neurons in the hippocampus following touchscreen testing, and that touchscreen training can improve cognitive performance in maze-based spatial navigation tasks. This potential for touchscreen testing to induce cognitive enhancement, or other phenotypic shifts, in preclinical models should be considered in study design. Furthermore, touchscreen-mediated cognitive enhancement could have therapeutic implications for cognitive disorders.

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