Study finds mixed results of Adderall as cognitive enhancer (seems to boost emotion more than cognition)

__ Over the past 15 years there has been growing awareness that many college students without an ADHD diagnosis use ADHD drugs. On some campuses, rates of self-reported non-medical use have exceeded 30% of students. The primary reason students report taking ADHD drugs is to enhance their academic performance. And, the strong majority of students — over 80% in a study I conducted — believe it is helpful for this purpose. Furthermore, students who report problems with attention are more likely to report non-medical use than other students; this suggests that some self-medicate to address their perceived attention difficulties. Nonmedical use of ADHD drugs creates complications for students with a prescription because they are frequently approached to sell or give away their meds. And, many college mental health centers that dispense other psychiatric medications do not dispense ADHD medication because they are concerned about diversion. Despite students’ widely held belief that no-medical use of ADHD drugs improves their cognitive functioning and academic performance, to date there has been virtually no good data on this issue. I was thus pleased to see a recent study in the journal Pharmacy that directly examined this possibility: Neurocognitive, autonomic, and mood effects of Adderall: A pilot study of health college students. The Study: Participants were 13 healthy college students (i.e., college students without ADHD, other psychiatric conditions, or drug use his...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Attention and ADD/ADHD Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness academic-performance. Adderall ADHD-drugs cognition cognitive-functioning college college students emotion mental health neurocognitive Source Type: blogs