Anyone who hopes to reach peak mental form before a tight deadline with the help of prescription psychostimulants, for example, is apparently wrong. In a study recently published in the journal “Science Advances”, at least the active ingredients methylphenidate – mainly known as Ritalin -, dextroamphetamine and modafinil usually did not show any performance-enhancing effects. On the contrary: If the subjects only took a placebo, they did better in tests.
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“We were able to show that drugs that are expected to increase cognitive performance actually only make users work harder, while the quality of the work decreases and it takes longer,” says study leader Elizabeth Bowman from the University of Melbourne.
For the study, 40 subjects – between 18 and 35 years old – had to solve the so-called backpack problem in eight variants. The aim is to put together objects of different weight and value for a virtual backpack. In the end, the backpack should have the greatest possible total value, but must not exceed a previously specified weight. All participants completed the tests four times, in four consecutive double-blind studies, in which they each took one of the three popular so-called “smart drugs” or a placebo.
Higher values without medication
The result: the overall value achieved by a backpack – and thus the quality of the problem solution – was generally lower when a test person had taken a stimulant. The effect was all the stronger, the better a participant performed in the round without stimulants. Subjects who were in the top 25 percent without a placebo fell “doped” into the bottom 25 percent group. Of those who performed poorly without the stimulants, a select few experienced a slight improvement in their performance with the drugs.
Nevertheless, all three drugs increased the motivation of the test subjects, which the researchers determine from the particularly high number of tests and the time expended. It takes about half as long to solve the problem if the participants had previously taken methylphenidate, which is commonly prescribed for ADHD patients, compared to the placebo test.
Neuroscientist Peter Bossaerts from the University of Cambridge admits that the effects would have to be examined more closely. “However, our results suggest that these active ingredients do not make you smarter than you are.” Because of the dopamine production that they stimulate, the motivation boost was to be expected. “But we also saw that the increased effort led to more erratic thinking,” says Bossaerts.
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Mixed study situation
According to the publication, the complexity of the test sets the study apart from the usual laboratory tests, such as those used to determine effects on reaction times. The results confirm, among other things, a study from the USA, which was published in the journal “Science” in 2020 and examined the motivation-enhancing effect of dopamine in more detail. In this study, too, no performance-enhancing effect of the drugs was found.
An eleven-year-old study of overtired surgeons using Modafinil shows that the type of test can affect the result. Their skills were tested using a simulator, among other things. Here, medical professionals tended to make less impulsive decisions, were more mentally flexible, and had more efficient working memories. However, these effects could not be detected in the usual neuropsychological tests.
As a rule, the disadvantages outweigh the disadvantages. After all, Ritalin and Co. can have side effects. The new study should make many people think again.
(Older brother)
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