This is another article I read in Scientific American:
Turbocharging the brain - pills to make you smarter? It discusses the new type of drugs that may enhance mental performance. The problem with these drugs is that for the weakest sort there is little effect (and possibly placebo) whereas it for the strongest sort has potential side effects, such as addiction, longterm damage to the brain and increased blood pressure. Many of the cognitive enhancers of today are also just modifications of earlier drugs (such as Ritalin, which is used for ADHD and has amphetamine in it). Caffeine shows similar effects as some of the cognitive enhancers. For now, one has to be aware of that there is no such thing as a drug without side effects (though they can be minimal) and if there are no side effects, there is usually no effect as well.
5 Comments
Book
6/12/2011 12:32:00 am
You should watch the film "Limitless". It is about a fictional drug called NZT, allowing consumers to use 100% of their brain instead of 5%. However, the film is quite unrealistic and I have read elsewhere that the quantity of the brain used matters less than how well we use that quantity (the quality).
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Mr Hansson
6/12/2011 01:10:51 am
Yes, Book, I heard about it. I haven´t seen it. I recently read that we probably already use 100 percent of our brain (that is, both the grey and white matter are used for various purposes) but some of the areas could probably be utilized better. And yes, I think you are right. What matters are the number of neural pathways and connections between neurons and not the size. Einstein´s brain for instance, was smaller than average but some brain areas were very dense (indicating many connections between neurons) What is important as well, of course, is that the connections relate to useful and meaningful skills in the external world.
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New
6/12/2011 02:41:47 am
NZT! yes Mr. Hansson, you have to watch that movie. I know it's going to sound really fictitious, but it can really be one of those movies that you'll be playing for your students in the future when you teach about brain plasticity and it's functions.
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Mr Hansson
6/13/2011 05:33:08 pm
Maybe I can show clips from it?
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You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post; I will try to get the hang of it!
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AuthorThis is my class blog for IB Psychology. Here I will publish reflections on psychology, reviews of psychology books, recommended links, lecture notes, and information on psychology topics that are not covered by the syllabus. You are free to add comments or ask me questions. Archives
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