Headline, January08, 2014

''' WHAT? WHAT! : ^* GETTING 

SMARTER THROUGH PILLS! '''

LOW-LEVEL EXHAUSTION. Thickening brain fog. A to-do list longer than Kyoto Protocol. It's just another day of grind.

There's caffeine of course, but as performance-enhancers go, it's entry level stuff,  a weak, outdated crutch for the over-stretched and the chronically sleep deprived.  Neuro enhancement is on.

Your own addled brain has probably read about them  -a new generation of drugs developed and prescribed for cognitive disorder such as ADHD, Alzheimer's and narcolepsy:

That are becoming increasingly coveted for  ''non-medicinal'' benefits. What Margaret Talbot described in The New Yorker as ''drugs that high-functioning and over committed people take to become a higher functioning and more over-committed''.

One in five respondents for an online survey by Nature admitted to using cognitive-enhancing drugs, acquired through  ''generous''  GP prescriptions or Internet chemists with addresses in the Cayman Islands.

From students on Ritalin  -an amphetamine derivative- for exam cramming. to academics and businessman using Modafinil for jet lag or as a pre-meeting pick-me-up. But this was more than a ProPlus upgrade.

''With Modafinil, I have done studies in healthy volunteers that show quite marked improvements in cognitive function   -that's planning, problem solving, memory improvements and executive functions,'' 

Barbara Sahakian, a clinical neuropsychologist at Cambridge University who works specifically in the field of cognitive enhancing drugs, said. She had many many people at :  ''marked improvements.

Was this the dawn of what Anjan Chatterjee, a neurologist at the university of Pannsylvania, called  ''cosmetic neurology''  a lifestyle market which would help the  ''worried well''  perform at their optimal level?

Now hear the author's experience: ''With a two-week supply of Modafinil on my desk, I was about to join the party. Its apparent lack of addictive potential and side affects had anecdotally made it the mature alternative to the moreish Ritalin, but it remained relatively unresearched.

In fact, no one seemed to know exactly how it worked. But any question marks over the wisdom of a self-administered experiment on my one and only brain evaporated when put against the potential benefits-

With a week of intense and focused effort I could clear my backlog and regain control. Stress levels would fall off. I'd have more energy and time. And what if they do make you smarter? Perhaps I'd take up an instrument, start an online business. Maybe, finally, I'd come to appreciate the films of Wim Wenders.

I was getting ahead of myself. The first pill, knocked back with a flourish at 9.30am, produced no discernible effect. One articulate phone call perhaps. A decision made more quickly than anticipated.

My will for its effects may have contributed to a solid afternoon of focused work, but it was impossible to attribute anything directly.

DAY TWO : A day that called for a double dose of the 100mg pills. Again, the first didn't appear to touch the sides. Within an hour of taking the second, however, everything changed.

First came a subtle but buzzy high. I realized something was awry when I gave a colleague an enthusiastic  ''thumbs up''.

Next, came a powerful desire for social interaction. Leaving my burgeoning inbox behind despite my internal protestations, I embarked on an office walkabout as if I were the host of a Sunday barbecue party.

In a meeting, I felt over-confident and excitable, having to stop myself from throwing in unwanted one-liners and complimenting people on jeans I'd seen countless times before.

Is this what  ''sassy''  meant? Or had I just become annoying? For me at least it felt good, except for one small point:

The last thing I wanted to do was any work''. Hahaha!

This great Post continues:

With respectful dedication to all the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW! the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' The Guide '''

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless