ArticlePloS one2011
Smart drugs "as common as coffee": media hype about neuroenhancement.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 219 citations in OpenAlex.
- Stimulant abuse as a coping strategy-Forensic and criminal consequences of stimulant abuse for neuroenhancement.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Acute Administration of 10 mg Methylphenidate on Cognitive Performance and Visual Scanning in Healthy Adults: Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.Human psychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- "Brain doping" substances: prohibited or not in sports?Biology of sport · 2025Article
- Prevalence of the use of prescription stimulants as "study drugs" by UK university students: A brief report.Brain and behavior · 2024Review
- Modafinil, an atypical CNS stimulant?Advances in pharmacology (San Diego, Calif.) · 2024Article
- Role of the media in promoting the dehumanization of people who use drugs.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2023Review
- Effort-Reward Imbalance at Work and Prescription Drug Misuse-Prospective Evidence from Germany.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Exploring the use of cognitive enhancement substances among Portuguese university students.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2022Article
- Parents' Perceptions on the Debated Parenting Practice of Cognitive Enhancement in Healthy Children and Adolescents.Journal of cognitive enhancement : towards the integration of theory and practice · 2022Article
- Cognitive Enhancement: Unanswered Questions About Human Psychology and Social Behavior.Science and engineering ethics · 2021Article
- Pharmacological Neuroenhancement: Current Aspects of Categorization, Epidemiology, Pharmacology, Drug Development, Ethics, and Future Perspectives.Neural plasticity · 2021Review
- The Dark Triad of personality and attitudes toward cognitive enhancement.BMC psychology · 2020Article
- Medical, Nonmedical, and Illegal Stimulant Use by Sexual Identity and Gender.American journal of preventive medicine · 2020Article
- Modafinil potentiates cocaine self-administration by a dopamine-independent mechanism: possible involvement of gap junctions.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Article
- Prescription stimulant diversion on a college campus: Intrapersonal, interpersonal and environmental correlates.Journal of drug issues · 2020Article
- Neuroenhancement as Instrumental Drug Use: Putting the Debate in a Different Frame.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Pharmacological Human Enhancement: An Overview of the Looming Bioethical and Regulatory Challenges.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Review
- Prescription Stimulant Misuse and Risk Correlates among Racially-Diverse Urban Adolescents.Substance use & misuse · 2020Article
- Distinct effects of (R)-modafinil and its (R)- and (S)-fluoro-analogs on mesolimbic extracellular dopamine assessed by voltammetry and microdialysis in rats.The European journal of neuroscience · 2019Article
- Substance Use, Academic Performance, and Academic Engagement Among High School Seniors.The Journal of school health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe use of prescription drugs to improve cognitive functioning in normal persons--neuroenhancement"--has gained recent attention from bioethicists and neuroscientists. Enthusiasts claim that the practice is widespread and increasing, and has many potential benefits; however recent evidence provides weak support for these claims. In this study we explored how the newsprint media portrays neuroenhancement.
aimsWe conducted an empirical study of media reporting of neuroenhancement to explore: media portrayals of the prevalence of neuroenhancement; the types of evidence used by the media to support claims about its prevalence; and, the possible benefits and risks of neuroenhancement mentioned in these media articles.
methodsUsing the Factiva database, we found 142 newspaper articles about the non-medical use prescription drugs for neuroenhancement for the period 2008-2010. We conducted a thematic content analysis of how articles portrayed the prevalence of neuroenhancement; what type of evidence they used in support; and, the potential benefits and risks/side-effects of neuroenhancement that were mentioned.
results87% of media articles mentioned the prevalence of neuroenhancement, and 94% portrayed it as common, increasing or both. 66% referred to the academic literature to support these claims and 44% either named an author or a journal. 95% of articles mentioned at least one possible benefit of using prescription drugs for neuroenhancement, but only 58% mentioned any risks/side effects. 15% questioned the evidence for efficacy of prescription drugs to produce benefits to users.
conclusionsNews media articles mentioned the possible benefits of using drugs for neuroenhancement more than the potential risks/side effects, and the main source for media claims that neuroenhancement is common and increasingly widespread has been reports from the academic literature that provide weak support for this claim. We urge journalists and researchers to be cautious in their portrayal of the non-medical use of drugs for neuroenhancement.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.