SynthesisExperimental and clinical psychopharmacology2016
Neurocognitive enhancement or impairment? A systematic meta-analysis of prescription stimulant effects on processing speed, decision-making, planning, and cognitive perseveration.
Synthesis in Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prescription Stimulant Misuse Among Nursing Students: A Systematic Review.Journal of addictions nursingPooled it
- Behavioral intervention with task repetition compared to pharmacological intervention with SSRI for enhancement of cognitive control in emotional and non-emotional settings.Psychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy in medicated adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in multiple dimensions: a randomised controlled trial.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2022Trial
- A Neurofunctional Domains Approach to Evaluate D1/D5 Dopamine Receptor Partial Agonism on Cognition and Motivation in Healthy Volunteers With Low Working Memory Capacity.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement Among International Medical Students: Assessing Study Habits as a Novel Factor.Medical science educator · 2024Article
- Changes in processing speed during early abstinence from alcohol dependence.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Categorical and dimensional aspects of stimulant medication effects in adult patients with ADHD and healthy controls.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Methylphenidate use and misuse among medical residents in Israel: a cross-sectional study.Human resources for health · 2023Article
- Theory of visual attention (TVA) applied to rats performing the 5-choice serial reaction time task: differential effects of dopaminergic and noradrenergic manipulations.Psychopharmacology · 2023Article
- On pharmacological neuroenhancement as part of the new neurorights' pioneering legislation in Chile: a perspective.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Review
- The effect of methylphenidate and mixed amphetamine salts on cognitive reflection: a field study.Psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- Do Parents' ADHD Symptoms Affect Treatment for their Children? The Impact of Parental ADHD on Adherence to Behavioral Parent Training for Childhood ADHD.Journal of abnormal child psychology · 2020Article
- Article
- Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants Among US High School Students to Help Study: Results From a National Survey.Journal of pharmacy practice · 2020Article
- Acute Intake of a Grape and Blueberry Polyphenol-Rich Extract Ameliorates Cognitive Performance in Healthy Young Adults During a Sustained Cognitive Effort.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Predicts Academic Fluency, Beyond Contributions of Core Academic Skills, Attention, and Motor Speed.Journal of attention disorders · 2019Article
- Frontoinsular Network Markers of Current and Future Adolescent Mood Health.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2019Article
- A single dose of cocaine enhances prospective memory performance.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2018Article
- Neurocognitive, Autonomic, and Mood Effects of Adderall: A Pilot Study of Healthy College Students.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Article
- Lifestyle use of drugs by healthy people for enhancing cognition, creativity, motivation and pleasure.British journal of pharmacology · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Increasing numbers of adults, particularly college students, are misusing prescription stimulants primarily for cognitive/academic enhancement, so it is critical to explore whether empirical findings support neurocognitive benefits of prescription stimulants. Previous meta-analytic studies have supported small benefits from prescription stimulants for the cognitive domains of inhibitory control and memory; however, no meta-analytic studies have examined the effects on processing speed or the potential impairment on other domains of cognition, including planning, decision-making, and cognitive perseveration. Therefore, the present study conducted a meta-analysis of the available literature examining the effects of prescription stimulants on specific measures of processing speed, planning, decision-making, and cognitive perseveration among healthy adult populations. The meta-analysis results indicated a positive influence of prescription stimulant medication on processing speed accuracy, with an overall mean effect size of g = 0.282 (95% CI [0.077, 0.488]; n = 345). Neither improvements nor impairments were revealed for planning time, planning accuracy, advantageous decision-making, or cognitive perseveration; however, findings are limited by the small number of studies examining these outcomes. Findings support that prescription stimulant medication may indeed act as a neurocognitive enhancer for accuracy measures of processing speed without impeding other areas of cognition. Considering that adults are already engaging in illegal use of prescription stimulants for academic enhancement, as well as the potential for stimulant misuse to have serious side effects, the establishment of public policies informed by interdisciplinary research surrounding this issue, whether restrictive or liberal, is of critical importance. (PsycINFO Database Record
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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.