A recent study conducted by Elizabeth Bowman and her colleagues at the University of Melbourne has shown that ‘smart drugs’, such as Ritalin and modafinil, may not be as beneficial for cognitive enhancement as previously thought. The researchers studied 40 healthy individuals aged between 18 and 35 and conducted a knapsack optimization problem task to simulate real-life decision-making challenges. Participants were given different drugs and a placebo, and the results showed that the drugs did not improve performance on the task. In fact, participants performed worse and spent more time on the task while on the drugs compared to the placebo. These findings suggest that healthy individuals may not benefit from these drugs and that they could even be detrimental, especially for those who are already skilled at complex problem-solving. Further research is needed to understand why these drugs have these effects and to explore the impacts of other ‘smart drugs’.
https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/smart-drugs-arent-so-smart-after-all