Neuroenhancement or cognitive enhancement is the experimental use of

pharmacological Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...

or non-pharmacological methods intended to improve

cognitive Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

and

affective Affect, in psychology, is the underlying experience of feeling, emotion, attachment, or mood. It encompasses a wide range of emotional states and can be positive (e.g., happiness, joy, excitement) or negative (e.g., sadness, anger, fear, dis ...

abilities in healthy people who don't have any

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. Agents or methods of neuroenhancement are intended to affect cognitive, social, psychological, mood, or motor benefits beyond normal functioning. Pharmacological neuroenhancement agents may include compounds thought to be

nootropic Nootropics ( or ) (colloquially brain supplements, smart drugs, cognitive enhancers, memory enhancers, or brain boosters) are chemical substances which purportedly improve cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, wakefulness, and self ...

s, such as

modafinil Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and wakefulness-promoting agent, eugeroic (wakefulness promoter) medication used primarily to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characteri ...

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class and is the most commonly consumed Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness pr ...

, and other drugs used for treating people with

neurological disorder Neurological disorders represent a complex array of medical conditions that fundamentally disrupt the functioning of the nervous system. These disorders affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerve networks, presenting unique diagnosis, treatment, and ...

s. Non-pharmacological measures of cognitive enhancement may include behavioral methods (activities, techniques, and changes), non-invasive brain stimulation, which has been used with the intent to improve cognitive and affective functions, and brain-machine interfaces.

Potential agents

There are many supposed nootropics, most having only small effect sizes in healthy individuals. Neuroenhancement's most common pharmacological agents include

and

methylphenidate Methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin ( ) and Concerta ( ) among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. It may be taken Oral adm ...

(Ritalin).

Stimulant Stimulants (also known as central nervous system stimulants, or psychostimulants, or colloquially as uppers) are a class of drugs that increase alertness. They are used for various purposes, such as enhancing attention, motivation, cognition, ...

s in general and various dementia treatments or other neurological therapies may affect cognition. Neuroenhancement may also occur from: * mood ('mood enhancement') *

motivation Motivation is an mental state, internal state that propels individuals to engage in goal-directed behavior. It is often understood as a force that explains why people or animals initiate, continue, or terminate a certain behavior at a particul ...

* sociability (e.g., talking-related or empathy) *

creativity Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable Idea, ideas or works using one's imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible (e.g. an idea, scientific theory, Literature, literary work, musical composition, or joke), or a physica ...

* cognitive endurance * psychological resilience Enhancers are multidimensional and can be clustered into biochemical, physical, and behavioral enhancement strategies.

Modafinil

Approved for treating

narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that impairs the ability to regulate sleep–wake cycles, and specifically impacts REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. The symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), sleep-r ...

obstructive sleep apnea Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder and is characterized by recurrent episodes of complete or partial airway obstruction, obstruction of the respiratory tract#Upper respiratory tract, upper airway lea ...

, and shift work sleep disorder,

is a wakefulness-promoting drug used to decrease fatigue, increase vigilance, and reduce daytime sleepiness.

Modafinil Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and wakefulness-promoting agent, eugeroic (wakefulness promoter) medication used primarily to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characteri ...

improves alertness, attention, long-term memory, and daily performance in people with sleep disorders. In sustained

sleep deprivation Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either Chronic (medicine), chronic ...

, repeated use of modafinil helped individuals maintain higher levels of wakefulness than a

placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

, but did not help attention and

executive function In cognitive science and neuropsychology, executive functions (collectively referred to as executive function and cognitive control) are a set of cognitive processes that support goal-directed behavior, by regulating thoughts and actions thro ...

. Modafinil may impair one's self-monitoring ability; a common trend found in research studies indicated that participants rated their performances on cognitive tests higher than it was, suggesting an "overconfidence" effect.

Methylphenidate

Methylphenidate Methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin ( ) and Concerta ( ) among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. It may be taken Oral adm ...

(MPH), also known as Ritalin, is a

stimulant Stimulants (also known as central nervous system stimulants, or psychostimulants, or colloquially as uppers) are a class of drugs that increase alertness. They are used for various purposes, such as enhancing attention, motivation, cognition, ...

that is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). MPH is abused by a segment of the general population, especially college students. A comparison between the sales of MPH to the number of people for whom it was prescribed revealed a disproportionate ratio, indicating high abuse. MPH may impair cognitive performance.

Others

Studies are too preliminary to determine whether there are any cognitive-enhancing effects of agents such as memantine or

acetylcholinesterase inhibitor Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) also often called cholinesterase inhibitors, inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase from breaking down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine into choline and acetate, thereby increasing both the level an ...

s (examples: donepezil, galantamine).

Possible adverse effects

Common drugs intended for neuroehancement are typically well-tolerated by healthy people. These drugs are already in mainstream use to treat people with different kinds of psychiatric disorders. Assessment to determine potential

adverse effect An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. The term compli ...

s are drop-out rates and subjective rating. The drop-out rates were minimal or non-existent for donepezil, memantine, MPH, and modafinil. In the drug trials, participants reported the following adverse reactions to use of donepezil, memantine, MPH, modafinil or caffeine: gastrointestinal complaints (nausea),

headache A headache, also known as cephalalgia, is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of Depression (mood), depression in those with severe ...

dizziness Dizziness is an imprecise term that can refer to a sense of disorientation in space, vertigo, or lightheadedness. It can also refer to Balance disorder, disequilibrium or a non-specific feeling, such as giddiness or foolishness. Dizziness is a ...

, nightmares,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

, drowsiness, nervousness, restlessness, sleep disturbances, and

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

, diuresis. The side effects normally ceased in the course of treatment. Various factors, such as dosage, timing and concurrent behavior, may influence the onset of adverse effects.

Non-pharmacological

Neurostimulation

Neurostimulation Neurostimulation is the purposeful modulation of the nervous system's activity using invasive (e.g. microelectrodes) or Non-invasive procedure, non-invasive means (e.g. transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial electric stimulation such as ...

methods are being researched and developed. Results indicate that details of the stimulation procedures are crucial, with some applications impairing rather than enhancing cognition and questions are being raised about whether this approach can deliver any meaningful results for cognitive domains. Stimulation methods include electrical stimulation, magnetic stimulation, optical stimulation with lasers, several forms of acoustic stimulation, and physical methods like forms of

neurofeedback Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback that uses electrical potentials in the brain to reinforce desired brain states through operant conditioning. This process is non-invasive neurotherapy and typically collects brain activity data using elect ...

Software and media

Applications of

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

technologies may affect general memory enhancement, extending perception and learning-assistance. The

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

may be considered a tool for enabling or extending cognition. However, it is not "a simple, uniform technology, ither in its composition, r in its use" and, as "an informational resource, currently fails to enhance cognition", partly due to issues that include

information overload Information overload (also known as infobesity, infoxication, or information anxiety) is the difficulty in understanding an issue and Decision making, effectively making decisions when one has too much information (TMI) about that issue, and is ...

misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...

and persuasion.

Quality and social issues

Validation and quality control

Quality standards, validation and

authentication Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an Logical assertion, assertion, such as the Digital identity, identity of a computer system user. In contrast with iden ...

, sampling and lab testing are commonly substandard or absent for products thought to be cognitive enhancers, including

dietary supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...

Well-being and productivity

Neuroenhancement products or methods are used with the intent to: * improve

well-being Well-being is what is Intrinsic value (ethics), ultimately good for a person. Also called "welfare" and "quality of life", it is a measure of how well life is going for someone. It is a central goal of many individual and societal endeavors. ...

* possibly encourage societal productivity * increase incentives to develop potential therapies for various brain diseases, such as

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

In popular culture

Neuroenhancement products are mentioned in entertainment productions, such as '' Limitless'' (2011), which may to some degree probe and explore opportunities and threats of using such products.

Prevalence

In general, people under the age of 25 feel that neuroenhancement agents are acceptable or that the decision to use them is to be made individually. Healthcare officials and parents feel concerned due to safety factors, lack of complete information on these agents, and possible irreversible adverse effects; such concerns may reduce the willingness to take such agents. A 2024 study based on a representative sample of more than 20,000 adults in Germany showed that around 70% of those surveyed had taken substances with the aim of improving mental performance within a year, without a medical prescription. The consumption of caffeinated drinks, such as coffee and energy drinks, was widespread (64% of users), expressly with the aim of improving performance, followed by dietary supplements and home remedies, such as

ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million year ...

(31%). Around 4% stated that they had taken

prescription drug A prescription drug (also prescription medication, prescription medicine or prescription-only medication) is a pharmaceutical drug that is permitted to be dispensed only to those with a medical prescription. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs c ...

s for cognitive enhancement (lifetime prevalence of 6%), corresponding to around 2.5 million users in Germany. A 2016 German study among 6,454 employees found a rather low life-time prevalence of cognitive enhancement prescription drug use (namely 3%), while the willingness to take such drugs was found in 10% of respondents. A survey of some 5,000 German university students found a relatively low 30-day prevalence of 1%, while 2% of those sampled used such drugs within the last 6 months, 3% within the last 12 months, and 5% of others used the drugs over their lifetimes. Of those students who used such substances during the last 6 months, 39% reported their use once in this period, 24% twice, 12% three times, and 24% more than three times. Consumers of neuroenhancement drugs are more willing to use them again in the future due to positive experiences or a tendency towards addiction.

References

{{Authority control * Cognition Intelligence Neuroscience Neurotechnology Transhumanism