1,327 research outputs found
Prescription Stimulants\u27 Effects on Healthy Inhibitory Control, Working Memory, and Episodic Memory: A Meta-Analysis
The use of prescription stimulants to enhance healthy cognition has significant social, ethical, and public health implications. The large number of enhancement users across various ages and occupations emphasizes the importance of examining these drugs\u27 efficacy in a nonclinical sample. The present meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the magnitude of the effects of methylphenidate and amphetamine on cognitive functions central to academic and occupational functioning, including inhibitory control, working memory, short-term episodic memory, and delayed episodic memory. In addition, we examined the evidence for publication bias. Forty-eight studies (total of 1,409 participants) were included in the analyses. We found evidence for small but significant stimulant enhancement effects on inhibitory control and short-term episodic memory. Small effects on working memory reached significance, based on one of our two analytical approaches. Effects on delayed episodic memory were medium in size. However, because the effects on long-term and working memory were qualified by evidence for publication bias, we conclude that the effect of amphetamine and methylphenidate on the examined facets of healthy cognition is probably modest overall. In some situations, a small advantage may be valuable, although it is also possible that healthy users resort to stimulants to enhance their energy and motivation more than their cognition
Objective and Subjective Cognitive Enhancing Effects of Mixed Amphetamine Salts in Healthy People
Psychostimulants such as mixed amphetamine salts (MAS, brand name Adderall) are widely used for cognitive enhancement by healthy young people, yet laboratory research on effectiveness has yielded variable results. The present study assessed the effects of MAS in healthy young adults with an adequately powered double-blind cross-over placebo-controlled trial. We examined effects in 13 measures of cognitive ability including episodic memory, working memory, inhibitory control, convergent creativity, intelligence and scholastic achievement, with the goals of determining (1) whether the drug is at least moderately enhancing (Cohen\u27s d \u3e= .5) to some or all cognitive abilities tested, (2) whether its effects on cognition are moderated by baseline ability or COMT genotype, and (3) whether it induces an illusory perception of cognitive enhancement. The results did not reveal enhancement of any cognitive abilities by MAS for participants in general. There was a suggestion of moderation of enhancement by baseline ability and COMT genotype in a minority of tasks, with MAS enhancing lower ability participants on word recall, embedded figures and Raven\u27s Progressive Matrices. Despite the lack of enhancement observed for most measures and most participants, participants nevertheless believed their performance was more enhanced by the active capsule than by placebo. We conclude that MAS has no more than small effects on cognition in healthy young adults, although users may perceive the drug as enhancing their cognition
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The shape of global higher education: international mobility of students, research and education provision. Volume 2
Anyons and the Bose-Fermi duality in the finite-temperature Thirring model
Solutions to the Thirring model are constructed in the framework of algebraic
QFT. It is shown that for all positive temperatures there are fermionic
solutions only if the coupling constant is . These fermions are inequivalent and only for they are canonical
fields. In the general case solutions are anyons. Different anyons (which are
uncountably many) live in orthogonal spaces and obey dynamical equations (of
the type of Heisenberg's "Urgleichung") characterized by the corresponding
values of the statistic parameter. Thus statistic parameter turns out to be
related to the coupling constant and the whole Hilbert space becomes
non-separable with a different "Urgleichung" satisfied in each of its sectors.
This feature certainly cannot be seen by any power expansion in .
Moreover, since the latter is tied to the statistic parameter, it is clear that
such an expansion is doomed to failure and will never reveal the true structure
of the theory.
The correlation functions in the temperature state for the canonical dressed
fermions are shown by us to coincide with the ones for bare fields, that is in
agreement with the uniqueness of the -KMS state over the CAR algebra
( being the shift automorphism). Also the -anyon two-point
function is evaluated and for scalar field it reproduces the result that is
known from the literature.Comment: 25 pages, LaTe
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Transnational education: global location, local innovation: a report produced for UUKi
Transnational education (TNE) is the delivery of an educational award in a country other than that in which the awarding body is based. It can include, but is not limited to, branch campuses, distance learning, joint and dual degree programmes, fly-in faculty, or a mix of these, often referred to as blended learning.
The UKās higher education TNE offer is growing in terms of both scale and strategic importance, and TNE is becoming a core component of many universitiesā strategic approach to international growth. The large majority of UK universities (84%) now deliver TNE to over 700,000 students worldwide with this number having increased year on year since 2007/08. This means that the UK higher education sector now provides qualifications to more students overseas than to international students in the UK (approximately 450,000).
The increasing scale of activity belies a huge variety in the types of TNE partnerships being developed by UK institutions. Drivers for engagement with international partners are diverse, relating to international strategies, to research priorities and to student and staff mobility. This publication aims to illustrate the breadth of engagement by highlighting 17 examples of TNE partnerships involving UK higher education institutions
Cognitive Enhancement
Cognitive enhancement refers to the improvement of cognitive ability in normal healthy individuals. In this article, we focus on the use of pharmaceutical agents and brain stimulation for cognitive enhancement, reviewing the most common methods of pharmacologic and electronic cognitive enhancement, and the mechanisms by which they are believed to work, the effectiveness of these methods and their prevalence. We note the many gaps in our knowledge of these matters, including open questions about the size, reliability and nature of the enhancing effects, and we conclude with recommendations for further research
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The state of the UK's global engagement: trends, opportunities and challenges
This session aims to delve into the contribution of the Global Engagement Index (GEI) to how UK universities approach internationalisation. The GEI is an open-access resource, attuned to the UKās diverse higher education sector, offering insights across 30 different measures (using core data from HESA, OfS, Scival) ranging from student engagement to environmental impact. In addition to institutional-level performance, higher education sector trends are tracked over the past four years.
The session seeks to contribute to the discourse around global engagement. The discussion will adopt a holistic view of international engagement, capturing overlooked elements like transnational education and curriculum internationalisation, emerging trends and challenges in international higher education.
In a post-pandemic world, the very nature of āglobalā is under scrutiny. Universities are grappling with complex questions about diversity, equity, and sustainability. The session will posit the GEI as a tool that can align with the concept of pluralism in global higher education, allowing for a more inclusive, diverse approach in sync with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In summary, the session is a call to rethink universitiesā global engagement strategies, their complexities and challenges
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