Research on “brain doping” shows: Ritalin and Co. don’t make you smarter

Among students and stressed employees, so-called nootropics popular – drugs that are supposed to improve brain performance and are taken with pleasure, for example, to meet deadlines and deadlines.

The most famous is Ritalin, a drug originally used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. The main ingredient is methylphenidate, an amphetamine-like substance that has a stimulant effect.

But what do these drugs actually do? Do they increase brain power? A new study comes to a clear conclusion: these pills do not make you smarter.

Australian scientists gave 40 test subjects the same task: they had to pack a virtual backpack that had to have the highest possible total value but not exceed a certain weight.

In the double blind method they were given a placebo or one of the pills known as “smart drugs” containing the active ingredients methylphenidate, modafinil and dextroamphetamine.

It was observed: The subjects who received a drug that is supposed to stimulate the brain generally scored lower on the quality of problem solving.

In comparison, it became even clearer: the subjects who had already taken the test without stimulants, were enormously behind in their ‘baptized’ performance. While they were previously in the top 25 percent, they fell into the bottom 25 percent under the influence of drugs.

But: the students spent a lot more time and tried it longer. The results, however, were hardly commensurate with the time spent. Study leader Peter Bossaerts puts it simply:

(t-online/dsc)