ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2015
The impact of neuroscience on society: cognitive enhancement in neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy people.
Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 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
42 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 119 citations in OpenAlex.
- The use of commercial computerised cognitive games in older adults: a meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2020Pooled it
- A decision-neuroscientific intervention to improve cognitive recovery after stroke.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2021Trial
- Brain-computer-interface-based intervention re-normalizes brain functional network topology in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2018Trial
- Comparative Effects of Methylphenidate, Modafinil, and MDMA on Response Inhibition Neural Networks in Healthy Subjects.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- Cognitive Training Using a Novel Memory Game on an iPad in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI).The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- The role of psychopharmacology and cognitive neuroscience in understanding the brain in the treatment of psychiatric disorders and neurological diseases for the benefit of society.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- D1 dopamine receptor antagonists as a new therapeutic strategy to treat autistic-like behaviours in lysosomal storage disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- NeuroTree: Hierarchical Functional Brain Pathway Decoding for Mental Health Disorders.Proceedings of machine learning research · 2025Article
- Effects of Digital Neurohabilitation on Attention and Memory in Patients with a Diagnosis of Pediatric Obesity: Case Series.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- The Issue of "Smart Drugs" on the Example of Modafinil: Toxicological Analysis of Evidences and Biological Samples.Journal of xenobiotics · 2025Article
- Ginkgo Biloba as a niche theme cognitive enhancer agent, 1420 dokumen of Scopus database. A bibliometric study from 1988 to 2024.F1000Research · 2025Article
- Public Views on Whether the Use of Pharmaceutical Neuroenhancements Should Be Allowed.Neurology · 2024Article
- Metrnl regulates cognitive dysfunction and hippocampal BDNF levels in D-galactose-induced aging mice.Acta pharmacologica Sinica · 2023Article
- Scratching the structure of moral agency: insights from philosophy applied to neuroscience.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- Review
- The Benefits and Limitations of Stimulants in Treating ADHD.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2022Review
- Enhance VR: A Multisensory Approach to Cognitive Training and Monitoring.Frontiers in digital health · 2022Article
- A class-contrastive human-interpretable machine learning approach to predict mortality in severe mental illness.NPJ schizophrenia · 2021Article
- Cognitive Enhancement: Unanswered Questions About Human Psychology and Social Behavior.Science and engineering ethics · 2021Article
- Projections and the Potential Societal Impact of the Future of Neurotechnologies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
In addition to causing distress and disability to the individual, neuropsychiatric disorders are also extremely expensive to society and governments. These disorders are both common and debilitating and impact on cognition, functionality and wellbeing. Cognitive enhancing drugs, such as cholinesterase inhibitors and methylphenidate, are used to treat cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, respectively. Other cognitive enhancers include specific computerized cognitive training and devices. An example of a novel form of cognitive enhancement using the technological advancement of a game on an iPad that also acts to increase motivation is presented. Cognitive enhancing drugs, such as methylphenidate and modafinil, which were developed as treatments, are increasingly being used by healthy people. Modafinil not only affects 'cold' cognition, but also improves 'hot' cognition, such as emotion recognition and task-related motivation. The lifestyle use of 'smart drugs' raises both safety concerns as well as ethical issues, including coercion and increasing disparity in society. As a society, we need to consider which forms of cognitive enhancement (e.g. pharmacological, exercise, lifelong learning) are acceptable and for which groups (e.g. military, doctors) under what conditions (e.g. war, shift work) and by what methods we would wish to improve and flourish.
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.