Can Mobile Technology Help Prevent the Burden of Dementia in Low- and Mid-Income Countries?

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Drugs, games, and devices for enhancing cognition: implications for work and society.

As work environments change, the demands on working people change. Cognitive abilities in particular are becoming progressively more important for work performance and successful competition in a global environment. However, work-related stress, performance over long hours, lack of sleep, shift work, and jet lag affect cognitive functions. Therefore, an increasing number of healthy people are reported to use cognitive-enhancing drugs, as well as other interventions, such as noninvasive brain stimulation, to maintain or improve work performance. This review summarizes research on pharmacological and technical methods as well as cognitive training, including game apps for the brain, in healthy people. In neuropsychiatric disorders, impairments in cognitive functions can drastically reduce the chances of returning to work; therefore, this review also summarizes findings from pharmacological and cognitive-training studies in neuropsychiatric disorders.All cited psychopharmacological work from Professor Sahakian laboratory was funded by a Wellcome Trust Grant (089589/Z/09/Z) awarded to T.W. Robbins, B.J. Everitt, A.C. Roberts, J.W. Dalley, and B.J. Sahakian, and it was conducted at the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, which is supported by a joint award from the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust (G00001354). ABB was supported by a grant from the The Wallitt Foundation.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nyas.1304

Which is the driver, the obsessions or the compulsions, in OCD?

The conventional view is that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is driven by irrational beliefs, which are a putative basis of obsessions. Compulsions are considered a coping mechanism, which neutralize anxiety or reduce the likelihood that these fears will be realized. Contrary to this view, recent data suggests that compulsions in OCD are a manifestation of a disruption in the neurobiologically well-defined balance between goal-directed action and automatic habits.This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group in Neuropsychopharmacology at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npp.2014.20

Neuroethical issues in cognitive enhancement: Modafinil as the example of a workplace drug?

The use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by healthy individuals has been a feature for much of recorded history. Cocaine and amphetamine are modern cases of drugs initially enthusiastically acclaimed for enhancing cognition and mood. Today, an increasing number of healthy people are reported to use cognitive-enhancing drugs, as well as other interventions, such as non-invasive brain stimulation, to maintain or improve work performance. 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 under what conditions and by what methods we would wish to improve and flourish

Neuroethical issues in cognitive enhancement: Modafinil as the example of a workplace drug?

The use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by healthy individuals has been a feature for much of recorded history. Cocaine and amphetamine are modern cases of drugs initially enthusiastically acclaimed for enhancing cognition and mood. Today, an increasing number of healthy people are reported to use cognitive-enhancing drugs, as well as other interventions, such as non-invasive brain stimulation, to maintain or improve work performance. 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 under what conditions and by what methods we would wish to improve and flourish

Knowing me, knowing you: Theory of mind in AI

Artificial intelligence has dramatically changed the world as we know it, but is yet to fully embrace ‘hot’ cognition, i.e., the way an intelligent being’s thinking is affected by their emotional state. Artificial intelligence encompassing hot cognition will not only usher in enhanced machine-human interactions, but will also promote a much needed ethical approach. Theory of Mind, the ability of the human mind to attribute mental states to others, is a key component of hot cognition. To endow machines with (limited) Theory of Mind capabilities, computer scientists will need to work closely with psychiatrists, psychologists and neuroscientists. They will need to develop new models, but also to formally define what problems need to be solved and how the results should be assessed

Correction to: Brain sex differences: the androgynous brain is advantageous for mental health and well-being.

Funder: Dr Luo was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant 2019YFA0709502), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 81873909), the Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology (20ZR1404900), the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (grant 2018SHZDZX01 and grant 2021SHZDZX0103).Funder: Professor Sahakian’s research is conducted within the NIHR MedTech and In vitro diagnostic Co-operative (MIC) and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Mental Health and Neurodegeneration Themes

Apathy and Anhedonia in Adult and Adolescent Cannabis Users and Controls Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 lockdown measures have caused severe disruptions to work and education and prevented people from engaging in many rewarding activities. Cannabis users may be especially vulnerable, having been previously shown to have higher levels of apathy and anhedonia than non-users. METHODS: In this survey study, we measured apathy and anhedonia, before and after lockdown measures were implemented, in n = 256 adult and n = 200 adolescent cannabis users and n = 170 adult and n = 172 adolescent controls. Scores on the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) and Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) were investigated with mixed-measures ANCOVA, with factors user group, age group, and time, controlling for depression, anxiety, and other drug use. RESULTS: Adolescent cannabis users had significantly higher SHAPS scores before lockdown, indicative of greater anhedonia, compared with adolescent controls (P = .03, η p2 = .013). Contrastingly, adult users had significantly lower scores on both the SHAPS (P < .001, η p2 = .030) and AES (P < .001, η p2 = .048) after lockdown compared with adult controls. Scores on both scales increased during lockdown across groups, and this increase was significantly smaller for cannabis users (AES: P = .001, η p2 = .014; SHAPS: P = .01, η p2 = .008). Exploratory analyses revealed that dependent cannabis users had significantly higher scores overall (AES: P < .001, η p2 = .037; SHAPS: P < .001, η p2 = .029) and a larger increase in scores (AES: P = .04, η p2 =.010; SHAPS: P = .04, η p2 = .010), compared with non-dependent users. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that adolescents and adults have differential associations between cannabis use as well as apathy and anhedonia. Within users, dependence may be associated with higher levels of apathy and anhedonia regardless of age and a greater increase in levels during the COVID-19 lockdown

Neuropsychological performance in young adults with cannabis use disorder.

Funder: NIHR MedTechFunder: in vitro diagnostic Co-operativeFunder: nihr cambridge biomedical research centreFunder: Wallitt Foundation and Eton CollegeFunder: Wellcome Trust Collaborative AwardBACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cannabis is a commonly used recreational drug in young adults. The worldwide prevalence in 18- to 25-year-olds is approximately 35%. Significant differences in cognitive performance have been reported previously for groups of cannabis users. However, the groups are often heterogeneous in terms of cannabis use. Here, we study daily cannabis users with a confirmed diagnosis of cannabis use disorder (CUD) to examine cognitive performance on measures of memory, executive function and risky decision-making. METHODS: Forty young adult daily cannabis users with diagnosed CUD and 20 healthy controls matched for sex and premorbid intelligence quotient (IQ) were included. The neuropsychological battery implemented was designed to measure multiple modes of memory (visual, episodic and working memory), risky decision-making and other domains of executive function using subtests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). RESULTS: Our results showed that young adult daily cannabis users with CUD perform significantly poorer on tasks of visual and episodic memory compared with healthy controls. In addition, executive functioning was associated with the age of onset. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is required to determine whether worse performance in cognition results in cannabis use or is a consequence of cannabis use. Chronic heavy cannabis use during a critical period of brain development may have a particularly negative impact on cognition. Research into the persistence of cognitive differences and how they relate to functional outcomes such as academic/career performance is required