BBC Knowledge June 2017

ANTIDEPRESSANTS

Depression is not just a mood disorder,

it has profound effects on cognition generally

• blurring memory, slowing thought and
  distorting perception. Most antidepressants,
  when they work, bring these things back
  to normal and a few – Buproprion,
  Prozac, reboxetine and SNRIs (serotonin-
  norepinephrine-reuptake inhibitors) –
  may make people brighter than normal,
  even if they are not depressed. However,
  antidepressants also tend to have side effects,
  so unless you actually are depressed,
  taking them probably isn’t a great idea.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES

Inflammation, the process by which body cells go on the attack,

is increasingly implicated in brain-based conditions such

as depression, memory loss and behavioural disorders.

Alzheimer’s disease may also be due to inflammation, at least in

part. Evidence is accumulating that the amyloid plaques associated

with the disease are not themselves its cause; rather, it is the brain’s

inflammatory reaction to the plaques that kills off brain cells.

This probably explains why low-dose aspirin – famous for

its anti-inflammatory properties – seems to stave off cognitive

decline (as well as heart attacks and many forms of cancer).

Aspirin is not recommended for healthy people by medical authorities,

but current evidence makes a low-dose daily aspirin pill a rational choice.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

Modafinil is a prescription

drug used to treat narcolepsy,

but it’s looking as though

it might be a general brain

sharpener. Researchers at

Oxford University and Harvard

Medical School (where up to

a quarter of students report

taking the drug to help their

work) reviewed 24 studies of

Modafinil and concluded that

it improves thinking skills and

helps with planning, decision-

making, flexibility, learning,

memory and creativity,

with very little downside.

Prof Guy Goodwin, President

of the European College of

Neuropsychopharmacology

(ECNP), said: “It seems to

be the first real example of

a ‘smart drug’, which can

genuinely help, for example,

with exam preparation.”

RITALIN
Famous for its use in treating
children with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
Ritalin and its derivatives also
seem to help concentration
and focus in adults with
the condition. It probably does
something for healthy people
too, but – guess what? – there is
no evidence to prove it.

DRUGS

| THE HUMAN BRAIN

SCIENCE

76 June 2017