ArticleFrontiers in systems neuroscience2015
A survey of substance use for cognitive enhancement by university students in the Netherlands.
Article in Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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
29 citing papers in PubMed, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Knowledge, attitudes, and patterns of nonmedical beta-blockers use among medical students: a comparative study between Lebanon and Armenia.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Cognitive gene enhancements and the capitalist meritocracy.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Investigating cognitive-enhancing supplement use among students at a Dutch life science university.PloS one · 2025Article
- Public Views on Whether the Use of Pharmaceutical Neuroenhancements Should Be Allowed.Neurology · 2024Article
- The rising use of cognitive enhancement drugs and predictors of use during COVID-19: findings from a cross-sectional survey of students and university staff in the UK.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- An overview of the use of psychoactive substances among students at the University of Lille during the COVID-19 health crisis: Results of the PETRA study.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2023Article
- Article
- Neuroenhancement: State of the Art and Future Perspectives.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2021Article
- Neuroenhancement in French and Romanian University Students, Motivations and Associated Factors.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The Use and Impact of Cognitive Enhancers among University Students: A Systematic Review.Brain sciences · 2021Review
- Students' use of caffeine, alcohol, dietary supplements, and illegal substances for improving academic performance in a New Zealand university.Health psychology and behavioral medicine · 2021Article
- Understanding the relationship between safety beliefs and knowledge for cognitive enhancers in UK university students.PloS one · 2021Article
- Methylphenidate boosts choices of mental labor over leisure depending on striatal dopamine synthesis capacity.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Article
- "Study Natural" without Drugs: An Exploratory Study of Theory-Guided and Tailored Health Campaign Interventions to Prevent Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants in College Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- The off-prescription use of modafinil: An online survey of perceived risks and benefits.PloS one · 2020Article
- Pharmacological Human Enhancement: An Overview of the Looming Bioethical and Regulatory Challenges.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Review
- Ethical aspects of the abuse of pharmaceutical enhancements by healthy people in the context of improving cognitive functions.Philosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM · 2019Article
- Cross-sectional study of cognitive stress appraisal and related factors among workers in metropolitan areas of Japan.BMJ open · 2018Article
- Wastewater-based tracing of doping use by the general population and amateur athletes.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2018Article
- Prevalence Estimates for Pharmacological Neuroenhancement in Austrian University Students: Its Relation to Health-Related Risk Attitude and the Framing Effect of Caffeine Tablets.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPharmacological cognitive enhancement, using chemicals to change cellular processes in the brain in order to enhance one's cognitive capacities, is an often discussed phenomenon. The prevalence among Dutch university students is unknown.
methodsThe study set out to achieve the following goals: (1) give an overview of different methods in order to assess the prevalence of use of prescription, illicit and lifestyle drugs for cognitive enhancement (2) investigate whether polydrug use and stress have a relationship with cognitive enhancement substance use (3) assessing opinions about cognitive enhancement prescription drug use. A nationwide survey was conducted among 1572 student respondents of all government supported Dutch universities.
resultsThe most detailed level of analysis-use of specific substances without a prescription and with the intention of cognitive enhancement-shows that prescription drugs, illicit drugs and lifestyle drugs are respectively used by 1.7, 1.3, and 45.6% of the sample. The use of prescription drugs and illicit drugs is low compared to other countries. We have found evidence of polydrug use in relation to cognitive enhancement. A relation between stress and the use of lifestyle drugs for cognitive enhancement was observed. We report the findings of several operationalizations of cognitive enhancement drug use to enable comparison with a wider variety of previous and upcoming research.
conclusionsRESULTS of this first study among university students in the Netherlands revealed a low prevalence of cognitive enhancement drug use compared to other countries. Multiple explanations, such as a difference in awareness of pharmacological cognitive enhancement among students, accessibility of drugs in the student population and inclusion criteria of enhancement substances are discussed. We urge enhancement researchers to take the different operationalizations and their effects on the prevalence numbers into account.
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.