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June 18, 2010

Strange But True!

Q. What are “nootropic” drugs, and what's the worry if only the wealthy can afford them?

A. They're literally “mind-affecting,” raising concerns by neuroethicists that such neuroenhancing drugs may worsen social disparities if only the wealthy can indulge, says Paul McFedries in IEEE Spectrum magazine. A recent poll in the journal Nature asked people whether they were using beta-blockers and drugs like Ritalin, not for their original medical purpose but to boost brain power. Of the 1,400 respondents from 60 countries, an astonishing one in five said “yes.” “The drive for self-enhancement of cognition is likely to be as strong as enhancement of beauty and sexual function,” said scientists Barbara Sahakian and Sharon Morein-Zamir. That's cosmetic surgery giving way to “cosmetic neurology.”


 
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