Neuroethics Learning Collaborative
Brain enhancement I: Cognitive enhancement
Outline of lecture
• Definition: What is a CE?
• Stimulants: (How) do they work as CEs?
• Epidemiology of CE use
• Beyond stimulants: Other CEs– Drugs
– Devices
• Ethical, legal and social issues
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What is cognitive enhancement?
• Improving the cognition of a cognitively normal person
• Corneliu Giurgea, mid-century Romanian psychopharmacologist: “Man is not going to wait passively for millions of years before evolution offers him a better brain”
• Virtually all CE drugs were developed for treating neuropsychiatric illness
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Outline of lecture
• Definition: What is a CE?
• Stimulants: (How) do they work as CEs?
• Epidemiology of CE use
• Beyond stimulants: Other CEs– Drugs
– Devices
• Ethical, legal and social issues
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Stimulants as CEs• Amphetamine (most
commonly as Adderall)
• Methylphenidate (aka Ritalin)
• How do these drugs affect cognition?– catecholamines, esp
dopamine
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Stimulants as CEs
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Memory enhancement: From: Breitenstein, et al. (2004). Neuropsychopharm.
Stimulants as CEs
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Executive function enhancement: sharp dependence on individual characteristics. E.g. Mattay et al. 2003, PNAS
Stimulants as CEs
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Executive function enhancement: sharp dependence on individual characteristics. E.g. Farah et al. 2008, Psychopharmacology
Stimulants as CEs
Bottom line: May help some people, with some aspects of cognition, but certainly not all…
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Outline of lecture
• Definition: What is a CE?
• Stimulants: (How) do they work as CEs?
• Epidemiology of CE use
• Beyond stimulants: Other CEs– Drugs
– Devices
• Ethical, legal and social issues
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Who’s using, where, why?
• McCabe et al, 2005, Addiction:– ~11,000 college students
– Lifetime prevalence overall: 6.9%
– Campuses ranged from 0-25% past year prevalence
• Reasons, methods, frequencies… much to be learned
• People other than US college students… much to be learned
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Nature poll
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The Vermont vacation problem…. much to be learned
Outline of lecture
• Definition: What is a CE?
• Stimulants: (How) do they work as CEs?
• Epidemiology of CE use
• Beyond stimulants: Other CEs– Drugs
– Devices
• Ethical, legal and social issues
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Other drugs with CE potential
• Atomoxetine (NE)
• Donepezil and other Ach drugs
• Modafinil
• Piracetam
• Novel memory drugs
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Devices• TMS
• tDCS
• DBS
• chips
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Outline of lecture
• Definition: What is a CE?
• Stimulants: (How) do they work as CEs?
• Epidemiology of CE use
• Beyond stimulants: Other CEs– Drugs
– Devices
• Ethical, legal and social issues
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Ethical, legal and social issues
• Safety (note esp addiction risk w stimulants)
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Ethical, legal and social issues
• Safety
• Fairness
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Ethical, legal and social issues
• Safety
• Fairness
• Freedom
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Ethical, legal and social issues
• Safety
• Fairness
• Freedom
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Ethical, legal and social issues
• Safety
• Fairness
• Freedom
• Legality, professional ethics
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Ethical, legal and social issues
• Safety
• Fairness
• Freedom
• Legality, professional ethics
• Personhood, agency, deserts
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