Hefty Dose of Skepticism Needed on Brain Stimulants

Adderall and Ritalin are amphetamine-based drugs that are commonly prescribed for those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. They are Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulants that work by increasing the amount of the neurotransmitters: norepinephrine and dopamine in CNS connections to speed up brain activity (Blum, 2008). Recently, they have been used by college students to help them study, their “cognitive enhancing” effects attracting those without ADHD or narcolepsy.

The students use them frequently despite possible side effects such as: trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, dry mouth, anxiety, increased heart rate, and other compromising effects. Moreover, when surveyed, 5 to 35 percent of college students in the United States and European countries without ADHD illegally use Adderall and Ritalin, buying or receiving them from peers, friends, or family (U. of RI, 2018). Consequentially, for money, pharmaceutical companies have been contemplating whether they should make these drugs available for general population.

However, according to the article that came out in July of 2018, it seems that the medicine would not be affecting your study performance for the better. The study done by Brown University included brain scans done on the subjects after taking placebo or Adderall, and the results failed to translate to better performance by the subjects on a battery of neurocognitive tasks that measured short-term memory, reading comprehension and fluency (Weyandt, 2018). The researchers, after the test, theorized that without a brain deficit like ADHD, the added stimulants on a normal brain are more likely to harm to the user than help them as it impairs cognition (Weyandt, 2018). However, the researchers also admitted that further in-depth testing with more participants must be made to support their hypothesis.

               Forget about allowing them to be distributed commercially. With no supported data on their improvement of students’ studying, and instead having harmful effect on the body through side effects, further warnings should be made on brain stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin.

• University of Rhode Island. (2018, July 19). ADHD drugs do not improve cognition in healthy college students. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180719104825.htm
• Lisa Weyandt, Tara White, Bergljot Gudmundsdottir, Adam Nitenson, Emma Rathkey, Kelvin De Leon, Stephanie Bjorn. Neurocognitive, Autonomic, and Mood Effects of Adderall: A Pilot Study of Healthy College Students. Pharmacy, 2018; 6 (3): 58 DOI: 10.3390/pharmacy6030058
• Blum, K., Lih-Chuan Chen, A., Braverman, E. R., Comings, D. E., Chen, T. J. H., Arcuri, V. … Oscar-Berman, M. (2008, October). Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder and reward deficiency syndrome. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 4(5), 893-918 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2626918/