Cognitive Enhancers

Cognitive enhancers are drugs that improve cognitive function. Besides their usefulness in treating individuals with cognitive impairments, such drugs may improve cognitive function in normal individuals. The search for cognitive enhancement (CE) has yielded some minor success using both drug (e.g., smart pills, memory boosters, nootropics) and non-drug (e.g., enriched rearing environments, meditation, sleep enhancement, electrical stimulation, and adequate nutrition including the anti-inflammatory spice turmeric with the active ingredient curcumin) means. To date, no approach has succeeded to produce near the desired result of a many-fold cognitive increase, as has been imagined in fictional works such as the 2011 movie Limitless starring Bradley Cooper. The plot of this movie speculates on the use of a drug that significantly enhances brain function and human performance to ...