One day, you or I could shape the way our brains work. We could improve our ability to remember and rewire how we think. A doctor could increase their alertness while performing surgery and a pilot, their hand-eye coordination. It’s possible that forgetting important details, falling asleep while driving or misplacing keys could become an instances of the past. Imagine instead that you and everyone around you is the best version of themselves. Picture a society where everyone is smarter, where improved memory and focus mean that everyone is more successful. What could possibly go wrong?
As you might have guessed, cognitive enhancement is not quite that simple. Its consequences are hard to predict. Prospects held for the future are unknown. At the forefront of current research, there is still so much left to discover. This exciting unchartered territory brings with it risks that also need to be tackled.
The idea of taking a pill to enhance cognitive function is hugely controversial. Maybe we view “smart drugs” as reckless: we conjure up a stereotypical image of some “mad scientist” fiddling with our internal chemistry, a visual too Frankenstein-esque to shake off. The possibility of enhancing ourselves would change our social behaviour and question our values. It would dramatically affect how we lead our everyday lives.
So whilst new cutting-edge techniques propel scientific research in this field forward, it could be said that we are convinced that cognitive enhancement should become a reality. there are elements of this that are equally relevant to me or you as it is to the neuroscientists conducting brain scans or pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the drugs themselves. Our attitudes to this demonstrate a lot about our attitudes of science and technology as a whole.
The science behind the hype
We will first tackle the questions of, what do we mean by cognitive enhancement and how does it work? When we look to improve our mental capacity, what would that actually involve?
A simple way to approach this is to first ask ourselves what our brain is really up to while we’re all busy living our lives: what is it that we’d be enhancing? Aside from overlooking and co-ordinating what’s going on in our bodies, the brain is also the “organ of mind and consciousness”. It is responsible for making us who we are (Farah & Wolpe, 2004). Much of the way we identify ourselves as individuals relies on the intelligence, memories and cognition for which we have our brains to thank. Cognitive enhancement seeks to improve the capacity of our brains to carry out these functions. Rather than changing the way our minds work altogether, it works by instead boosting existing brain function, improving skills like learning, focus and attention. Imagine switching to a higher gear on your motorbike to reach a destination faster instead of upgrading completely to a private jet.
And yet, if we define cognitive enhancement to be any means of improving our mental function, surely every single one of us has “enhanced” in the past or will do so at one stage or another in the future. Education and schooling increase our capacity to learn, exercises like yoga can improve our ability to focus and revision or training techniques help us retain information for longer (Bostrom & Sandberg, 2009). Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world every day, making caffeine one of the most popular methods to stay alert. As a society, these methods of enhancement are widely accepted and raise very little controversy.
But if we now shift our focus to the less conventional form of cognitive enhancement by using pharmaceutical means, we are faced with an interesting question: its argued whether it is fair to treat taking a pill to achieve these same effects any differently.
Cognitive enhancers are substances which act on specific chemicals released by the brain and target certain regions within it to regulate how it functions. Sometimes known as “smart drugs”, they generally work by binding to a molecule important for transport of a given chemical in the brain. This can either stimulate the release of other chemicals or prevent the brain from their uptake. As there is a change in the levels of chemical messengers known as ‘neurotransmitters’ in the blood, this can have an impact on our behaviour (Dodou & Nazar, 2013). Pharmocologists can use detailed knowledge of this mechanism to manufacture drugs which target cognitive function, bringing to life the potential of cognitive enhancement.
The human brain has 100 billion neurons, each neuron connected to 10 thousand other neurons. Sitting on your shoulders is the most complicated object in the known universe.”
– Michio Kaku
Recent findings: one genius pill?
Unravelling the mystery of the human brain is no easy task. As with any scientific endeavour, our attempts to discover something new should try to work with and build upon our existing foundations. Scientific theory on possible drug mechanisms and how cognitive enhancers could work must be applied to pave the way for new research. Although the invention of a single pill to boost intelligence has not been realised, scientists have taken considerable leaps in recent years to aid our understanding of the brain.
Recent findings already demonstrate the promise of certain cognitive enhancers. Here are just a selection of some of the most well-known “smart drugs” available:
- The drug Donepezil, originally developed as a dementia treatment, has been shown to enhance memory in airline pilots which can lead to increased retention of complex flight information (Giordano, 2012).
- In response to Rivastigmine, a drug developed for patients with dementia, the majority of subjects did not respond to the treatment. However, a smaller subset responded very well with strong improvement on clinical measures (Hussain & Mehta, 2011).
- Studies have shown that when Modafinil, an anti-narcoleptic drug, was given to sleep-deprived doctors they showed improvements in working memory, decision making, flexibility, and planning. In addition to this, there were no reported side effects, in contrast to the tremor and anxiety typically seen as side effects with caffeine use (Sahakian et al., 2015).
These studies are only a tiny glimpse into the research that is currently going on. Now, it is up to you to stay informed and take an active role in the future of our society.
A social and ethical conundrum
A question frequently raised regards the necessity of cognitive enhancement in the face of unknown risk. Are there safety concerns? Could cognitive enhancement divide society as we know it?
Consider the creation of an uneven playing field; for such a thing already exists in academia. Some students, for example, will be able to afford personal tutoring, while others will not have this chance. The issue prevails even athletics, where competitors have been accused of doping, consuming pharmaceuticals to gain a headstart against their competitors; thus creating the largest athletics scandal to date.
Before cognitive enhancement is introduced into society, how can we ensure that its distribution is fair? In other words: considering the structure of our society, can it be made possible for cognitive enhancement to be made completely equal to all?
An intersection of fields
As cognitive enhancement becomes a more pressing issue in society, it is important, now more than ever, to consider the cross-disciplinary nature of this debate. We need to increase the scope of our understanding. We can only begin to address the social concerns, ethics and element of risk involved through the input of a variety of perspectives. By extending the discussion to include the specialists and non-specialists alike, we can reach a more informed, valid conclusion about cognitive enhancement and its place in our society.
Sparked your interest?
What do you think we should do? Is this an avenue of research that should be continued? Or should we be more concerned about the risks involved? Share your views with us in the comment section below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Check out the links below for more on smart drugs and the world of neuroscience:
https://www.newscientist.com/round-up/instant-expert-brain/
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140729-the-truth-about-smart-drugs
References:
Bostrom, N. and Sandberg, A. (2009). Cognitive Enhancement: Methods, Ethics, Regulatory Challenges. Science and Engineering Ethics, 15(3), pp. 311–341.
Farah, M.J. & Wolpe, P.R. (2004). Monitoring and manipulating brain function: New neuroscience technologies and their ethical implications. Hastings Cent. Rep., 34, pp. 35-45.
Giordano, J. (2012). Neurotechnology: Premises, potential, and problems, CRC Press, pp. 250-263.
Husain, M. & Mehta, M. A. (2011). Cognitive enhancement by drugs in health and disease. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15, pp. 28-36.
Sahakian B.J. et al. (2015). The impact of neuroscience on society: Cognitive enhancement in neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy people. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, pp. 370.
Cognitive enhancement 
We really enjoyed reading this and found the argument interesting and all the points made were relevant. There was a good flow of ideas and it was all connected under a main topic that held our attention as readers. Well done.
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As a group we really enjoyed reading this; the arguments are clear and link well and the general quality of writing is excellent. Also the overall presentation is brilliant and makes the article more engaging. The links at the end are a nice touch- good use of referencing.
To improve, we would suggest the further integration of statistics, quotes and examples into the discussion. Doing so may make your points more relevant to the reader if they are shown to link obviously to society as a whole.
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We thought that this blog was one of the best ones we had read. It flowed really well and highlighted key ideas in a way in which the general public would understand. We also enjoyed the videos at the end and how the rhetorical questions and colloquial tone engaged the reader to think about aspects themselves that they had probably not previously had thought of.
In order to improve we suggest perhaps if possible finding studies to back up your claims. For example when you discuss coffee and yoga as being tools in order to boost brain capacity and learning potential, is there anything that you can find that actually shows this? Such as an experiment for instance.
Another addition could be a reference to doctors or scientists who have been working on such an experiment, as this may allow the public to further understand that this is in actual fact an ongoing experiment and that there are scientists currently attempting to create pills in order to boost brain function.
Finally, you could include a brief sentence on why it is taking so long to create a pill like this, if we already have the information and the ability to do so. What is holding the scientists back?
Overall, a great blog, very engaging and enjoyable. Congratulations!
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We found your blog article to be very professional and thorough, with your research making for well-supported points. Sub-headings made the piece easy to follow, as did use of media to break up text. The content was very interesting, with sound explanation of what cognitive enhancement entails and examples of potential drugs. We also appreciated the provision of links for further exploration of the topic.
To improve, we would like to see greater depth in the conclusion in order to explicitly see the direction of your argument. In addition, we found the use of rhetorical questions to not always be necessary though they were thought provoking at times; alternatively, responses could be provided to the questions you pose. We would advise explanation of terms such as narcolepsy as the audience may not be familiar with such vocabulary. In terms of content, we would like to see further information on the viability of the drugs you noted, e.g. what will they cost? and will they be widely available? Finally, we would like to see the topic of drugs to be introduced at the very beginning in order to give an inclination of the article’s content.
– Group 2
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