Tales of students popping adderall or some other stimulant to study longer or harder are, well, pretty much old news at this point. But what about professors propped up on Provigil (the stay awake drug modafinil)? A recent commentary by Barbara Sahakian and Sharon Morein-Zamir in Nature looks at some of the questions prompted by the rise of cognitive enhancement drugs. Most of the questions they pose won’t be new if you’ve been following this topic, but there was one bit that jumped out at us:

In academia, we know that a number of our scientific colleagues in the United States and the United Kingdom already use modafinil to counteract the effects of jetlag, to enhance productivity or mental energy, or to deal with demanding and important intellectual challenges. Modafinil and other drugs are available online, but their non-prescription and long-term use has not been monitored in healthy individuals.

For many, it seems that the immediate and tangible benefits of taking these drugs are more persuasive than concerns about legal status and adverse effects. There are clear trends suggesting that the use of stimulants such as methylphenidate on college campuses is on the rise, and is becoming more commonplace in ever younger students. Universities may have to decide whether to ban drug use altogether, or to tolerate it in some situations (whether to enable all-night study sessions or to boost alertness during lectures).

Apparently these Provigil popping colleagues don’t mind sharing. From a recent LA Times article about cognitive enhancement:

Sharon Morein-Zamir, a psychologist at Cambridge University who writes about the ethics of brain enhancement, said her interest in the medications was largely academic. But when someone she knew who had been taking Provigil for a neurological condition offered her some pills, Morein-Zamir’s curiosity was piqued.

“I knew the literature and wondered what it felt like,” she said.

The drug helped her focus as she worked at her computer for hours straight. But she wondered if it was a placebo effect.

“Maybe I would have gotten it done anyway,” said Morein-Zamir, who launched an Internet poll Wednesday to ask scientists about their use of brain-enhancing drugs.

In that Nature piece, Sahakian and Morein-Zamir conclude that society may decide to regulate the use of cognitive enhancers in “competitive situations,” much the same way we currently do for sporting events.

OK, so what’s a competitive situation that might fall in to this category. Hmm… how about academic publishing? Just think of the potential conversations around the department coffee maker:

Did you hear about Bob? He just got another paper accepted.

There’s no way he could have published that many times this year if he wasn’t on the juice!

-Greg Dahlmann

figure from the Nature article by Sahakian and Morein-Zamir

Earlier on blog.bioethics.net:
+ Barry Bonds and enhancement’s strike zone