A new study finds that if you’re already intelligent - then taking so-called “smart
drugs”Modafini could actually make you stupider!
Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - and with the school year coming to a close soon, there
will inevitably be some students who turn to so-called “smart drugs” to help them
power through exams.
It’s claimed that one in five students have taken the smart drug “l” for just that
reason.
But what if we told you, it could actually be impairing your performance?
Well according to a new study, published in PLOS One, people who are otherwise healthy
who take the drug Modafinil, could actually be experiencing the opposite effect of what’s
intended.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham recruited 64 participants, in which half of
them took the drug Modafinil, and the other half took a placebo.
All of them were given a Hayling Sentence Completion Test, which is a neuropsychological
exam that tests your critical thinking response times.
Unsurprisingly, the participants who took Modafinil exhibited slower response times,
than people who took the placebo.
And I say “unsurprisingly,” because some people claim that Modafinil is a “smart
drug” in part because it slows your reaction time.
The idea is that that delayed response actually improves cognitive performance by making you
less impulsive.
But the researchers found, that’s not really true.
When a task required instant reactions, the drug just delayed people’s responses - with
no clear evidence of any improvement to cognitive performance.
Interestingly, previous studies from this same research group, also found that Modafinil
impairs creativity and inhibits people from thinking outside the box - but only for people
who are creative to begin with.
That same study also found that people who describe themselves as not particularly creative
- actually experienced enhanced creativity while taking the drug.
The author of the study, Ahmed Mohamed, says this is a widely known effect of “smart
drugs” - or psychostimulants.
They enhance cognition in people who actually need it, but for healthy people who already
operate at optimum levels, they have the opposite effect - they actually stifle it.
And once you’re at that level, it’s very difficult for any drug to bring you higher
than where you’re already at.
What do you guys think about this?
Feel free to share your experiences with us in the comments down below.
Otherwise, thanks for watching!