DailyDirt: I Want A New Drug...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Tue, Mar 27th 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Many mind-altering drugs lead to trouble at some point. But what about treatments that help improve memory or intelligence? Forget those energy drinks, serious scientists are working on ways to improve memory and learning skills. Here are just a few examples.

A protein named the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) seems to be correlated with exercise and improved memory. But exercise is hard, so there'll be plenty of BDNF pills and 'Flowers for Algernon' situations to look forward to. [url]
Taking drugs like Ritalin and caffeine might provide a temporary boost to mental abilities, but R&D efforts to discover a pill that permanently improves brain function are likely futile. Pharmaceutical companies benefit more from treatments rather than cures, anyway. [url]
Air Force researchers have figured out a way to reduce training time by 50% -- using mild electrical currents delivered to pilots' heads. The technique uses transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS), and the treated pilots have been reported to say, "I know Kung Fu" in a Keanu-like way. [url]
To discover more interesting articles on the human mind, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: air force, bdnf, drugs, learning, memory, ritalin, tdcs, tms, transcranial direct current stimulation

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Pixelation, 27 Mar 2012 @ 9:17pm

"Air Force researchers have figured out a way to reduce training time by 50% -- using mild electrical currents delivered to pilots' heads."

It's amazing what a little household current will do for motivation.
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McCrea (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 10:19pm

Cattle-prods work.
Way back in '86 our physics teacher was using a hog-shocker applied to the metal door knob to train students to not be late to class.
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marialisa222, 27 Mar 2012 @ 10:53pm

room screen divider
I am much worried about my short term memory. I would appreciate the R&D effort to discover a pill that permanently improves brain functions
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Pixelation, 28 Mar 2012 @ 8:06am

Re: room screen divider
"I would appreciate the R&D effort to discover a pill that permanently improves brain functions"
The only problem is...
After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
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ubb, 28 Mar 2012 @ 6:05pm

oddly enough a lot of mind enhancing chemicals are found in plants already along with "drugs", instead on synthesizing one why not just do some research and use whats already in nature? from an ecological perspective this is a much healthier choice. In my opinion all things that are in nature have a purpose including "drugs".
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