Brain drugs would you use?

[dragon]

Recently over the last couple of years there have been a lot of artilces poping up online and in medical journals about how in the next few years durgs that will improve memory, cognitive abilities and other brain functions.
Now assuming that thses drugs do come out would you use them? And lets put a catch to them, if you brain is already operating at a high level of performance there will be little improvment. This means that dumb and average people will get the most benefit from these drugs.

I know I would be willing to use them as I am always tired of not being able to rember stuff, makes learning information hard.

[Resinence]

Whats the downside? Not much of a decision, pretty much every reply is going to be "yeah, I'd try them to see if there was an improvement", I don't even have memory problems and I would.

IMO you could make this more interesting by adding a worse side effect, like say; if you stop using them or can't afford them anymore it may cause brain damage.

[dragon]

THe probelm is the articles don't really mention any down side, but I can assume that if you stop taking them you would slowly revert back to your previous self, so I guess they can be considered addicting like Ritalin.

[Punarbhava]

The drugs you're talking about are called "nootropics", and hell yes i would take them.

[His Divine Shadow]

Well hell yes, I can just see this helping me study languages and programming immensley.

[Darth Tanner]

And lets put a catch to them, if you brain is already operating at a high level of performance there will be little improvment

Is that a real factor to the drugs?

Depends on their cost, if its a few hundred pounds a month just to improve my memory slightly I think I'd buy a pen and notebook instead.

Cost aside bring it on, there is no real downside to their use as far as I can see.

[Invictus ChiKen]

As said if there is no down side bring them on!

[Broomstick]

I already use a performance-enhancing drug, and have done so for many decades. It's called "caffeine".

I will point out, however, that forgetting is an underappreciated skill. Traumatic events, for example, are not always something you may wish to remember clearly. One example that pops to mind involved an acquaintance of mine whose airplane was forced down at night onto a busy road and he wound up wrapping his aircraft around a telephone pole. He was extricated from the wreck and while the surgeons were removing bits of airplane from what was left of his left thigh the NTSB were removing bits of meat and bone from what was left of his airplane. He later stated that he did not recall that part of the incident, his last memory being just before touchdown, at which point some "helpful" person suggested a hypnotist for memory recovery. Injured pilot looked at him, and inquired why the hell would anyone want to remember that?

I could probably give other examples where forgetting is an asset and not a liability, but only if folks are interested.

[Melchior]

I could probably give other examples where forgetting is an asset and not a liability, but only if folks are interested.

The wonderful short story Funes the Memorious, by Jean Luis Borges, while being obviously fantastical in approach comes to mind.
Anyway, I would be wary to biochemically fiddle with poorly understood mechanisms, and it should be noted that we know very little about how memory works; drugs that enhance the ability to concentrate are more probable.

[Jaepheth]

I'd probably hold off for at least 5 years just to see if there's any unexpected side effects in other users. But after that, yeah I'd try them and if the benefit out weighs the cost I'd continue to use them.

[Hawkwings]

I would definitely hold off on them until the side effects are known and dealt with. Who cares about boosting my memory if it turns me into a nervous wreck over the next five years?

[dragon]

Apparently there are already several on the market some of which can be gotten by presciption in Europe while others only in the states or in healthe food stores.

Theres Piracetam which supposedly improves memory and learning in healthy humans. It is supposed to increase the flow of information between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, thus helping in creative problem solving.

Theres Hydergine, which is used to treat senility. It is also supposed to increase intelligence, memory and recall, and prevent various type of brain deterioration. Furthermore it is supposed to repair some of the damage done by free radicals. One of the strongest effects Hydergine has is it's ability to prevent damage to the brain caused by too little oxygen and therefor it is used as an emergency treatment for stroke patients. Known side-effects are mild nausea, dizziness and headaches, but Hydergine is considered virtually non-toxic

Vasopressin which is a diapid a brain hormone that is naturally present in your body and which helps in learning new information. It has been used to treat a form of diabetes, because it reduces the need to urinate. It has also been used to treat several conditions leading to memory impairment. Vasopressin is taken in the form of a nasal spray - 2 to four sniffs three times a day. Its effects are imminent and noticeable; clear headed feeling and increased attention are among reported effects.

Centrophenoxine is know for its anti-ageing effect (increases the life-span up to 30% in laboratory animals) and for its intelligence boosting properties.

And lastly DMAE (Dimethylaminoethanol)

Also known as a drug under the name Deanol-Riker in Europe and widely available as a nutritional supplement in the US. DMAE increases intelligence, memory, energy levels and learning, extends the life span and even elevates mood. Its effects are usually noticeable within half an hour after ingestion (more quickly when taken as a liquid) and continue for a few hours. Some people have reported a build up of tolerance to DMAE after several weeks of use

All of these have come on the market n the last few years and there are many more being developed.

[dragon]

Damn forgot to post link

doh

[Justforfun000]

As Broomstick has alluded to,.....I don't think memory enhancing or even intelligence boosting is automatically a good thing. Sometimes I almost envy dumb people. The fundies are just one example. They blissfully believe in their soul's immortality and live day to day with little fear of their ultimate future where I stress and worry about it all the time.

I don't think I'd want to be any smarter then I am. It might make me think about things even more deeply.

And yes being able to forget is a blessing. There are many things in the past that I can now only recally dimly, and I'm grateful for that.

[Darth Tanner]

Damn forgot to post link

The irony of forgetting to post a link about memory enhancing drugs.

Sometimes I almost envy dumb people. The fundies are just one example.

Really? That's almost sad. I can see your point in that the more informed you are the more you know how screwed up politics is how doomed our current economic system is but seriously, to actually want to live in ignorance is rather weird.

[Broomstick]

I don't think it's a matter of living in ignorance - a person can be of "merely" average intelligence AND highly educated at the same time - but more a matter of the mind not automatically and easily following a train of thought or a collection of facts to a particular end. A certain amount of denial is necessary to function effectively in many circumstances.

[Darth Wong]

You can't monkey around with your brain chemistry without the risk of side effects. The last thing you want to do is take some kind of brain-enhancing drug and then wake up to discover that you had a psychotic episode and killed someone.

[Melchior]

I wouldn't. I don't use drugs personally by default. A slightly better memory isn't good enough to override this automatic no. I can live with what I have.

Do you mean "drugs that interfere significantly with brain chemistry" or you don't even take antibiotics? Antihistamines?

[Ender]

Ephemerol. Increasing telekinetic powers to the point where I can make a guys head explode? Yes please.




PS: Scanners ruled.

[Melchior]

By default, I don't use any drug. This can be overridden if there is a need for it, like having a disease. I certainly would if someone else is in danger and a doctor recommended it (like if I had a contagious disease); my position isn't black and white, but I set the bar somewhat high. However, any kind of enhancement drug or one used for recreation is right out, since I don't have a need for them at all.

This has the practical benefit of avoiding side effects, but honestly, my position on this at its core is more akin to a religious belief than coming from rational logic.

Self-medication is a dangerous practice, I don't see anything irrational in avoiding it even if I don't have any psychological aversion to pharmacological therapy, between the fact that I probably spent less than two cumulative years since I was born without swallowing various pills (for legitimate reasons, but I have a lot of reasons) and going to med school.

On the other hand, in the future the willingness to compromise on one's long term health by taking performance enhancing drugs could be a competitive advance on the workplace (it could even be argued that in certain cases, doctors, for example, it would be ethically dubious to avoid them).

[Justforfun000]

Quote:
Sometimes I almost envy dumb people. The fundies are just one example.


Really? That's almost sad. I can see your point in that the more informed you are the more you know how screwed up politics is how doomed our current economic system is but seriously, to actually want to live in ignorance is rather weird.

Hence the reason I said "almost".

[Melchior]

If he needs the drugs to be competent, then yes, avoiding them and still practicing would be a problem, but then, perhaps he should find a different line of work anyway.

Drugs could, for example, reduce errors caused by fatigue, which are rather independent from actual competence.

[Darth Wong]

Such drugs would probably create a chemical dependency after a while, so that you can barely think or remember anything without them.

[Broomstick]

I stand by the rule that if it's strong enough to help you it's also strong enough to hurt you.

There is probably a dosage for some of these pharmaceuticals that are beneficial without damaging or dangerous side effects, but we all know that there are plenty of people who will take more, hoping for more good but possibly winding up with more bad.

Society has a long history of culture and customs to modify such drugs as alcohol and caffeine (writing from when caffeine was introduced to Europe are very interesting - there were some people who got severely fucked up from overdoing it with coffee) yet many still have problems with those. Ditto for tobacco and marijuana (and not just legal issues for the latter but real side effects). "Brain drugs" will no doubt be similar, with a certain percentage of the population getting into trouble with them.

[CaptainZoidberg]

Such drugs would probably create a chemical dependency after a while, so that you can barely think or remember anything without them.

I'm not sure why it would necessarily cause dependency. The brain might not have any reason to adapt to try to lower the drug's effects, as it does with caffeine/stimulants/etc.