Cognitive Enhancement

The New York Times recently had an article entitled "Brain Enhancement Is Wrong, Right?". It discusses whether or not brain enhancement, mainly through the use of drugs, is a good thing or not. It's nice to see that cognitive enhancement is actually getting some real coverage by a major mainstream newspaper. The article itself, though, doesn't cover all that much. It basically only talks about Adderall and Provigil and their use for enhancement. Adderall has been around for over 50 years, so it is hardly a new drug. Provigil is somewhat newer and has a more benign side effect profile when compared to Adderall. While these drugs are currently used by millions, the critics of cognitive enhancement can be quite vocal.

Cognitive enhancement, or any enhancement for that matter is not without its critics. One such critic is Francis Fukuyama. Francis Fukuyama raises the broader issue of performance enhancement: “The original purpose of medicine is to heal the sick, not turn healthy people into gods.”

Though, at the moment it seems ludicrous to think that any type of cognitive enhancement currently available will turn a healthy person into a god. Humans have been using cognitive enhancers for 1000's of years. Caffeine is the most common type of drug that humans use on a regular basis and most people wouldn't think twice about taking it. Wired magazine has also recently discussed cognitive enhancement.

Imagine a drug that can reduce your need for sleep, increase your concentration and make you smarter, with minimal side effects. Call it Morvigil. What would such a drug do to society? Would governments ban it, would it become the drug of the rich or become a virtual prerequisite for your workday?

I think at this point, there are diminishing returns to creating new smart drugs. It will be increasingly difficult for pharmaceutical companies to actually get an enhancement type drug approved. I think in the future, most forms of enhancement won't come from drugs, but other methods of brain stimulation using electricity (Deep TMS, Deep Brain Stimulation and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation). I found a more in depth article about several potential methods of boosting brain power (Boosting your brainpower pdf). This article also discusses the ethical implications of brain enhancement. Science is getting better at categorizing specific mental states and also at understanding the neurobiology of intelligence. So it may be only a matter of time before scientists attempt to augment a person's intelligence or other mental states. At first these new types of technology will probably be used mostly for disorders of the mind such as strokes, parkinson's, alzheimer's and mental illness. However eventually the technology will get better and more sophisticated, so it may be taken up by those who just want an edge in life.