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Lecture notes: PS1810: Can 'Smart Drugs' make you smart?
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Semester 1 PS1810 notes. Written in 2020/21
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PS1810-WEEK 10 – Can ‘smart drugs’ make you smarter?Cognitive enhancing drugs
Modafinil/Ritalin/Adderall etc.
Central nervous system
Prescribed for the treatment of ADHD
- Drugs increase Executive Functions (EF)
o Improved attention, better working memory, more flexibility in thinking and
responding
Treatment for fatigue
- Modafinil
- Prescribed for fatigue related to narcolepsy, sleep apnoea and shift-work sleep disorder
- Can improve EF (inhibitory control)
Modafinil
Regulates wakefulness
Has an effect on various neurotransmitters
Notably blocks the dopamine transporter (DAT1) increases available dopamine
Dopamine
Dopamine is associated with reward mechanisms in the brain
- Cocaine and alcohol increase levels of dopamine
- “if it feels good it probably involves dopamine”
Prefrontal cortex
Involved in ‘higher’ cognitive functions
Self-regulation, behavioural control, planning working memory, control of attention
Sub-cortical areas
Detection of rewarding stimuli
Response to those rewards
Motivation for seeking out such rewards
Communicates to memory centres to seek out such rewarding experiences in future
Drug action
MPH and AMP increase levels of dopamine and noradrenalin in the prefrontal cortex and in
cortical and subcortical regions projecting to it
Also activate the brain’s reward system potential for dependence
Modafinil acts in similar way, but thought to be less addictive
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