̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - cognitive enhancement

Opinion: Fair play? How ‘smart drugs’ are making workplaces more competitive

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 10:42:08 +0000

We live in an increasingly competitive world where we are always looking to gain an advantage over our rivals, sometimes even our own colleagues. In some cases, it can push people to extreme, unethical and illegitimate methods – something we’ve seen recently in the doping scandal that has hit the athletics world.

In a recent review paper, we found that people are increasingly using performance-enhancing drugs for common tasks ranging from sitting examinations to giving presentations and conducting important negotiations. These “cognitive enhancers” – such as antidepressants, beta blockers (used to treat heart conditions or anxiety) or “smart drugs” – can boost energy and mood, helping us to perform better with less sleep. But is it safe for healthy individuals to take such drugs? And is it right?

Smart drugs include modafinil (commonly used to treat sleep disorders) and methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin (used to treat ADHD). These drugs make us more attentive, focused and awake – so it’s easy to see why they are so popular. In today’s knowledge economy, we need dynamic and flexible brains to excel in the workplace. Demanding jobs require us to be adaptable and able to make decisions under time pressure or high levels of risk. We need to be attentive, have good memory and great planning and problem-solving skills, but also the ability to read and understand others’ views. Maintaining motivation and resilience in difficult situations and under stress are also key.

We are only starting to understand how widespread the use of smart drugs is. In a 2008 online poll by the journal Nature of 1,400 people in 60 countries, one in five reported they were using cognitive-enhancing drugs to stimulate their focus, concentration or memory. This study looked specifically at the use of beta blockers, Ritalin and modafinil.

Meanwhile, a 2015 survey of some 5,000 workers at a German health insurance company estimated that about 6.7% were using drugs to enhance their performance or cope with anxiety, up from 4.7% in 2009. However the real number could be much higher, as some people may be reluctant to report such use. Studies have also estimated that some 10%-15% of students worldwide use cognitive enhancers including Ritalin and modafinil.

Promising effects

̽��ֱ�� students and academics typically say they use cognitive enhancers for three main reasons: to gain the competitive edge; to overcome the effects of jet lag or insufficient sleep in order to stay awake and alert and to perform at peak level; and to increase work-related motivation. We know that if tasks are boring, it is difficult to get into the flow – and much easier to procrastinate and surf our favourite websites instead.

In my own laboratory, we have assessed the effects of both modafinil and methylphenidate (Ritalin). We saw improvements in a wide variety of cognitive functions, including sustained attention or concentration, memory, planning and problem solving. In addition, modafinil enhanced task-related pleasure or motivation.

But it’s not just about improving performance at “everyday jobs”. For certain members of our society, such as doctors or those in the the military and air traffic control, cognitive enhancing drugs such as modafinil could turn out to be lifesavers. Indeed, we have found that sleep-deprived doctors might benefit from modafinil in situations that require efficient information processing, flexible thinking and decision making under time pressure.

In these studies with modafinil, side effects are relatively low. But while this all sounds positive, these are early studies on a limited number of people. Given the increasing use of such drugs, we urgently need long-term studies of their safety and efficacy for use by healthy people.

Games and brain stimulation

Of course, drugs are not the only way to boost our cognitive abilities. There has also been a proliferation of “brain training” games, many of which make claims that are difficult to substantiate. Last year, my colleagues and I showed how a game, based on scientific data, could be used to improve memory in patients with schizophrenia. With a games developer, we created ̽��ֱ��Wizard Memory Game, which runs as an app on tablets or mobile phones.

Non-invasive brain stimulation devices are also now being used by healthy people, for example “transcranial direct current stimulation”, which uses electrodes placed on the scalp to pass a low electrical current. This may be able to accelerate the learning process – we’re even seeing video gamers using this technology to gain the competitive edge.

If none of this sounds appealing, there is a low-tech solution to artificially boosting your “intelligence”: exercise. This stimulates the production of new brain cells and improves cognition, mood and physical health – and hence better overall well-being.

While there is reason that we should promote improvements in brain health and mental well-being globally, the use of cognitive enhancers that can only be purchased or accessed illegitimately, such as Ritalin, is dangerous and controversial. Some students feel forced to use cognitive enhancing drugs, because they see other students using them and they do not want to fall behind.

In response to concerned students, Duke ̽��ֱ�� amended its honour code in 2011 to state that “the unauthorised use of prescription medication to enhance academic performance” was a form of cheating. Until these cognitive enhancing drugs are approved for use by healthy people, it is best to use other means to boost cognition. Maybe it is also time to consider how we can best promote mental well-being for a more flourishing society.

Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

This article was originally published on ̽��ֱ��Conversation. Read the original article.

̽��ֱ��opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author(s) and do not represent the views of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

Barbara Sahakian (Department of Psychiatry) discusses 'smart drugs' and other ways to boost our cognitive abilities.

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Speakers of two dialects may share cognitive advantage with speakers of two languages

sjr81 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 15:01:24 +0000

̽��ֱ��new findings on bi-dialectalism are published in the journal Cognition, following a study undertaken by researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, the ̽��ֱ�� of Cyprus, and the Cyprus ̽��ֱ�� of Technology.

Although a topic of continuing academic and public scrutiny, a lot of research to date reports a positive cognitive net effect for multilingual children compared to children who speak only one language.

̽��ֱ��effect is usually manifest in attention, cognitive flexibility and the ability to inhibit irrelevant information, with some researchers arguing that the advantages of bilingualism are evident throughout the human lifespan. Until now, however, there has been very little research on children speaking two dialects which may only be separated by subtle linguistic differences.

Bi-dialectalism, the systematic use of two different dialects of the same language, is widespread in many parts of the world. In the USA millions of children grow up speaking African American English at home as well as Mainstream American English at school.

Similar situations arise in many parts of Europe, such as the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, where school-children may only feel comfortable to talk about school subjects in High German, but switch to Swiss-German for everyday conversation.

British English, Gaelic and Welsh have well-established dialects as well as newly emerging ones such as Multicultural London English, which has a rising number of speakers, especially among young, urban people.

To date, bi-dialectalism can be found in Lowland Scotland (in speakers of Scots and Standard Scottish English), in parts of Northern Ireland and elsewhere. However, the criteria for classifying two varieties as dialects rather than independent languages are not strictly objective and it could be debated whether these are cases of bilingualism instead.

Dr Kyriakos Antoniou and Dr Napoleon Katsos from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge studied the cognitive performance of children who grew up speaking both Cypriot Greek and Standard Modern Greek – two varieties of Greek which are closely related but differ from each other on all levels of language analysis (vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar).

̽��ֱ��study showed that multilingual and bi-dialectal children exhibited an advantage over monolingual children that was evident in composite cognitive processes including memory, attention and cognitive flexibility; suggesting that advantages previously reported for multilingual children could be shared by children speaking any two or more dialects.

Dr Kyriakos Antoniou, from Cambridge’s Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, said: “What is exciting and encouraging about our findings is that we were able to replicate the advantages of bilingualism in children who speak two varieties of the same language. They need not be as diverse as English and Mandarin Chinese.

“ ̽��ֱ��distance between languages and dialects does not make much of a difference according to our tests and findings. Systematically switching between any two forms of language, even quite similar ones, seems to provide the mind with the extra stimulation that leads to higher cognitive performance.

“Our findings could be significant for parents and children in the UK and countries across Europe and beyond where children speak a variety of different dialects. Germany, Italy and Spain all have significant numbers of dialectal speakers, as do parts of the US and China. With the rise and increased recognition of dialects in the UK, bi-dialectalism might become even more relevant in the UK in the near future.

“What our research suggests, contrary to some widely held beliefs, is that we don’t have to treat multilingual or bi-dialectal children as problematic. When it comes to language, plurality is an advantage.”

̽��ֱ��study consisted of 64 bi-dialectal children, 47 multilingual children and 25 monolingual children. Comparisons between the three groups were performed in two stages and the socio-economic status, language proficiency, and general intelligence of all children taking part was factored into the research methodology.

Dr Napoleon Katsos, one of the study authors, said: “Previous research has documented positive associations between childhood bilingualism and cognitive abilities.

“ ̽��ֱ��novel and most important contribution of this study is that it showed similar positive effects extend to children speaking two closely related dialects of the same language. In qualitative terms, the effects of bi-dialectalism and multilingualism were, in general, quite similar. However, more research is needed on this topic.

“Dialects are very much under-recognised and undervalued. This kind of research can make people appreciate there is an advantage to bi-dialectalism and this may be important when we think about our identity, about how we educate children and the importance of language learning.”

Dr Antoniou and Dr Katsos are now retesting and extending their hypotheses on a larger scale in Belgium, in collaboration with researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Brussels. Belgium offers an ideal testing ground, with dialects of Dutch such as West-Flemish, being spoken alongside more standard versions of Dutch and French. ̽��ֱ��new study includes larger samples and new measures, to better understand the effects of bi-dialectalism on cognitive and linguistic development and their relation to bilingualism.

Reference:

K.Antoniou et. al. ‘ ̽��ֱ��effect of childhood bilectalism and multilingualism on executive control’ Cognition 149 (2016)

DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2015.12.002

̽��ֱ��ability of children to speak any two dialects – two closely related varieties of the same language – may confer the same cognitive advantages as those reported for multilingual children who speak two or more substantially different languages (such as English and French).

Dialects are very much under-recognised and undervalued.

Napoleon Katsos

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smcclan/16024515689/in/photolist-qq2Qeg-8Nkm1m-nRE…

Conversations by Steve McClanahan via Flickr

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‘Brain training’ app may improve memory and daily functioning in schizophrenia

cjb250 — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 23:01:11 +0000

Schizophrenia is a long-term mental health condition that causes a range of psychological symptoms, ranging from changes in behaviour through to hallucinations and delusions. Psychotic symptoms are reasonably well treated by current medications; however, patients are still left with debilitating cognitive impairments, including in their memory, and so are frequently unable to return to university or work.

There are as yet no licensed pharmaceutical treatments to improve cognitive functions for people with schizophrenia. However, there is increasing evidence that computer-assisted training and rehabilitation can help people with schizophrenia overcome some of their symptoms, with better outcomes in daily functioning and their lives.

Schizophrenia is estimated to cost £13.1 billion per year in total in the UK, so even small improvements in cognitive functions could help patients make the transition to independent living and working and could therefore substantially reduce direct and indirect costs, besides improving the wellbeing and health of patients.

In a study published today in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, a team of researchers led by Professor Barbara Sahakian from the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge describe how they developed and tested Wizard, an iPad game aimed at improving an individual’s episodic memory. Episodic memory is the type of memory required when you have to remember where you parked your car in a multi-storey car park after going shopping for several hours or where you left your keys in home several hours ago, for example. It is one of the facets of cognitive functioning to be affected in patients with schizophrenia.

̽��ֱ��game, Wizard, was the result of a nine-month collaboration between psychologists, neuroscientists, a professional game-developer and people with schizophrenia. It was intended to be fun, attention-grabbing, motivating and easy to understand, whilst at the same time improving the player’s episodic memory. ̽��ֱ��memory task was woven into a narrative in which the player was allowed to choose their own character and name; the game rewarded progress with additional in-game activities to provide the user with a sense of progression independent of the cognitive training process.

̽��ֱ��researchers assigned twenty-two participants, who had been given a diagnosis of schizophrenia, to either the cognitive training group or a control group at random. Participants in the training group played the memory game for a total of eight hours over a four-week period; participants in the control group continued their treatment as usual. At the end of the four weeks, the researchers tested all participants’ episodic memory using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) PAL, as well as their level of enjoyment and motivation, and their score on the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale, which doctors use to rate the social, occupational, and psychological functioning of adults.

Professor Sahakian and colleagues found that the patients who had played the memory game made significantly fewer errors and needed significantly fewer attempts to remember the location of different patterns in the CANTAB PAL test relative to the control group. In addition, patients in the cognitive training group saw an increase in their score on the GAF scale.

Participants in the cognitive training group indicated that they enjoyed the game and were motivated to continue playing across the eight hours of cognitive training. In fact, the researchers found that those who were most motivated also performed best at the game. This is important, as lack of motivation is another common facet of schizophrenia.

Professor Sahakian says: “We need a way of treating the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as problems with episodic memory, but slow progress is being made towards developing a drug treatment. So this proof-of-concept study is important because it demonstrates that the memory game can help where drugs have so far failed. Because the game is interesting, even those patients with a general lack of motivation are spurred on to continue the training.”

Professor Peter Jones adds: “These are promising results and suggest that there may be the potential to use game apps to not only improve a patient’s episodic memory, but also their functioning in activities of daily living. We will need to carry out further studies with larger sample sizes to confirm the current findings, but we hope that, used in conjunction with medication and current psychological therapies, this could help people with schizophrenia minimise the impact of their illness on everyday life.”

It is not clear exactly how the apps also improved the patients’ daily functioning, but the researchers suggest it may be because improvements in memory had a direct impact on global functions or that the cognitive training may have had an indirect impact on functionality by improving general motivation and restoring self-esteem. Or indeed, both these explanations may have played a role in terms of the impact of training on functional outcome.

In April 2015, Professor Sahakian and colleagues began a collaboration with the team behind the popular brain training app Peak to produce scientifically-tested cognitive training modules. ̽��ֱ��collaboration has resulted in the launch today of the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� & Peak Advanced Training Plan a memory game, available within Peak’s iOS app, designed to train visual and episodic memory while promoting learning.

̽��ֱ��training module is based on the Wizard memory game, developed by Professor Sahakian and colleague Tom Piercy at the Department of Psychiatry at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Rights to the Wizard game were licensed to Peak by Cambridge Enterprise, the ̽��ֱ��’s commercialisation company.

“This new app will allow the Wizard memory game to become widely available, inexpensively. State-of-the-art neuroscience at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, combined with the innovative approach at Peak, will help bring the games industry to a new level and promote the benefits of cognitive enhancement,” says Professor Sahakian.

Reference
Sahakian, BJ et al. ̽��ֱ��impact of neuroscience on society: Cognitive enhancement in neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy people. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B; 3 Aug 2015

Home page image: Brain Power by Allan Ajifo

A ‘brain training’ iPad game developed and tested by researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge may improve the memory of patients with schizophrenia, helping them in their daily lives at work and living independently, according to research published today.

This proof-of-concept study is important because it demonstrates that the memory game can help where drugs have so far failed

Barbara Sahakian

Peak

Cambridge Advanced Training Programme

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