Defined: Cosmetic Neurology

Some drugs lend extreme wakefulness and focus—but are the enhancements worth the risks?

CLINICAL RESEARCH
Search results for “CLINICAL RESEARCH”
Close

Where Psychedelic Research Goes Next
A new generation of research looks at psilocybin, LSD and other mind-altering drugs. Both the challenges and the therapeutic promise are enormous.

One Man’s Poison
New genetic sequencing technologies have opened the door to animal venom therapies.

The Tender Years
Adversity in early childhood too often equals poor health later. Now researchers are looking for ways to change the equation.
See More
DEFINED
Search results for “DEFINED”
Close

Passenger Hotspots
n: A run of mutations in a tumor genome that don’t offer any particular survival advantage.

Defined: Unbefriended
Every incapacitated patient needs someone to help make medical decisions on their behalf. But some lack any friends or family members who could help.

Defined: Information Blocking
When a company in the electronic health records industry interferes with its clients’ ability to access, exchange or use the data the company stores.
See More
DRUGS
Search results for “DRUGS”
Close

Prescription: Thin
Weight loss strategies have always put diet and exercise center stage. Can two new drugs change the medical mindset about obesity?

Where Psychedelic Research Goes Next
A new generation of research looks at psilocybin, LSD and other mind-altering drugs. Both the challenges and the therapeutic promise are enormous.

The Doses Left Over
Is there any hope for saving wasted medications?
See More
NEUROSCIENCE
Search results for “NEUROSCIENCE”
Close

Where Psychedelic Research Goes Next
A new generation of research looks at psilocybin, LSD and other mind-altering drugs. Both the challenges and the therapeutic promise are enormous.

What Makes a Kid Clumsy?
More research into coordination disorders shows why some children are more prone to trip, fumble and spill the milk.

Back From the Brink
Near-death experiences have been the domain of pseudoscience. But clinicians ignore them at their peril.
See More

Published On July 23, 2009

COSMETIC NEUROLOGY: coined in 2004 by University of Pennsylvania neurologist Anjan Chatterjee for the use of drugs to hone cognition.

For their intended users, Adderall and Ritalin calm the frenzy of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, while Provigil perks up the excessively sleepy. But for everyone else, these drugs lend extreme focus and wakefulness, attractive effects for the overextended college student or older worker trying to keep up with younger, more agile minds. Their use has become commonplace even in the scientific community; in a recent online survey, Nature found that 20% of respondents admitted to using acuity-boosting drugs. The downside: The long-term effects of prolonged neuroenhancement are unknown, and because such drugs are easily obtained (illegally) online, users are more susceptible to abusing them.

Back
to top