2023/06/14 by Elizabeth A. Bowman, David Coghill, Carsten Murawski +1 · 1 voice
Neuroscience · Medicine · #Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations #Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder #Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/sciadv.add4165
openalex publication_date 2023/06/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The efficacy of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancers in everyday complex tasks remains to be established. Using the knapsack optimization problem as a stylized representation of difficulty in tasks encountered in daily life, we discover that methylphenidate, dextroamphetamine, and modafinil cause knapsack value attained in the task to diminish significantly compared to placebo, even if the chance of finding the optimal solution (~50%) is not reduced significantly. Effort (decision time and number of steps taken to find a solution) increases significantly, but productivity (quality of effort) decreases significantly. At the same time, productivity differences across participants decrease, even reverse, to the extent that above-average performers end up below average and vice versa. The latter can be attributed to increased randomness of solution strategies. Our findings suggest that "smart drugs" increase motivation, but a reduction in quality of effort, crucial to solve complex problems, annuls this effect.