Can a pill make your brainier? This intrepid writer decided to find out...

Can a pill make your brainier? This intrepid writer decided to find out...

By Angus Watson
Last updated at 9:46 PM on 05th January 2009

A pill that makes you more intelligent, boosts your memory, improves your concentration and reduces tiredness? It sounds like the stuff of science fiction. In fact, it is already available, and academics in America and Britain have apparently been taking it for years.

Last week, John Harris, a professor of bioethics at the University of Manchester, said students should be allowed to take 'smart' drugs (or 'Viagra for the brain', as they've been dubbed) to boost their academic performance.

He claimed a sizeable body of evidence showed that pills such as Ritalin, which is prescribed for ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), Adderall, another ADHD drug, and Modafinil significantly improved concentration and should be available without prescription.


Clever clogs: Students and the military are using drugs to boost their brainpower

Modafinil - better known as Provigil - is the pill the academics have been taking. Officially, it's used to treat conditions that cause daytime sleepiness, such as narcolepsy. But off-prescription, it's being used, not only by academics and students, but reportedly by the U.S. and UK military, to improve mental energy.

There are no figures on the numbers of people using Modafinil as an off-prescription stimulant (it can be obtained through the internet). However, according to my sources, and judging by the large chunk of the internet devoted to the subject, the use - or abuse - of Modafinil is widespread.

'Plenty of people use Modafinil,' agrees Barbara Sahakian, professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge. 'I know an Oxford University professor who takes it fortnightly for one day of really hard work and a colleague at Cambridge who takes it at parties, while another takes it for jet-lag.'

Nobody is certain how Modafinil works, according to Sahakian. It does seem clear, however, that it specifically tackles drowsiness without affecting other parts of the brain. This sets it apart from other stimulants such as amphetamines, which make you less tired, but can also compel you to talk too much.

Working at home as a freelance writer, I'm OK in the mornings, but my afternoon work ethic would shame a siesta-loving Spaniard. A pill to increase my post-lunch productivity would be marvellous. I decided to see for myself if Modafinil worked.

The fact that it definitely does something to one's brain, but nobody's quite sure what, was a niggling worry. It didn't help when I talked to Baroness Susan Greenfield, the neuroscientist, about my plans to take it.

'You're taking a risk,' she said firmly. 'Our brains are hugely delicate and responsive to drugs. If you take too much vitamin C, it's excreted in your urine. That's not the case with brain-altering drugs.

'Any influence - especially the direct chemical manipulation that you're suggesting - could have a long-term, negative effect on brain cells. You're risking your life.'

So trying Modafinil might damage my brain for ever. And there were other potential, and more immediate side-effects. I read of a vast range of possible nasties, including headaches, nausea, nervousness, diarrhoea, back pain, reduced appetite and abnormal ejaculation.

It was all pretty frightening. But a reckless part of me wondered if it was all worthwhile if the pills did make me branier.

First there was the problem of getting prescription- only drugs without being ill. I asked a doctor friend if she'd write me a prescription. She said I was an idiot.

So I ordered them online, but they never came. Finally, I tried a randomly picked doctor. Fortunately, his standards weren't as high as my friend's, and he gave me a prescription for a £5 'admin fee'.

The guilt of using an ill-gained prescription wore off when the chemist charged me £75 for 30 100mg tablets. He explained, that's how much privately-prescribed drugs cost.

The label gave no dosage advice, but the internet suggested 200mg daily. I'd told the doctor this was my plan, and he agreed that it seemed reasonable. I decided to
start with a 100mg pill at 9am. Given all those potential sideeffects I reasoned it would be best to be wary.

I popped the pill and began a big writing project I'd been putting off. An hour later I wasn't dead - I was perfectly happy, although I had no appetite for breakfast. Perhaps I was working harder - it was difficult to tell since I usually work well in the morning. By 10am, I was still alive and sane, and, apart from my lack of appetite, all seemed normal.

So I took a second 100mg pill. Half an hour later I was lightheaded and euphoric. I began singing along to the radio and my computer keyboard felt oddly fizzy, as if I had pins and needles in my fingertips. At 10am, alone in my flat, it felt like I'd downed four glasses of champagne.


The drug Modafinil is said to improve people's concentration
Modafinil was meant to improve my work ethic and focus, but there was no way I could concentrate. My mind was rushing, so much so that I got a little scared. I worried that I might have a heart attack, or perhaps my head might explode.

So I went for a walk by the Thames. I've always found that watching ducks can allay pretty much any affliction, and this was no exception. I calmed down, came home, forced myself to eat and felt better. My mind was still on overdrive but it was my most productive working afternoon - ever.

That evening, I had dinner with a friend. I was conscious of being chatty, but also witty and incisive. Before we parted, I told her about the Modafinil trial. 'You were a little more obnoxious than usual,' she commented.

Back home, I found myself standing in the bathroom doing a sudoku puzzle at 1.30am, and didn't get to sleep until 2am. Next morning I took 200mg in one go. Soon I felt a bit sick, muddle-headed, panicky and sweaty. But I calmed down, and did a good morning's work.

A night later, I met my new girlfriend's friends for the first time in a trendy restaurant. I was extremely talkative as I knocked back gallons of wine, and became astonishingly extrovert, dancing with people and coercing a group of reluctant revellers to sing Under Pressure by Queen. I remember nothing of the taxi ride home.

The next morning, I had a horrendous hangover but was cheered by reports from my girlfriend, who said her friends thought I was the life and soul of the party. Was that a euphemism for loudmouth buffoon, I asked? 'No, really, you were fun', she insisted.

I recovered by Sunday and, settling into the Modafinil, my work took off. Panic disappeared, I felt absolutely fine. Concentration and output sky-rocketed and I felt fantastic. In fact, during my two weeks of Modafinil-enhanced life I did tons of good work, gained two new regular slots in newspapers, lost 4lb in weight and cleared an Augean stable of admin.

But I'm not sure Modafinil really increases your memory or makes you more intelligent. It makes you think you're more intelligent. I took part in a pub quiz - we won - but despite, rather than because of me. I was convinced I was right every time, but was consistently wrong.

What's the driest place in the world? 'Atacama Desert!' I cried, full of confidence. 'Isn't it Antarctica?', asked someone. 'No, no, Atacama,' I insisted patronisingly. Of course, the answer was Antarctica.

And then there are those lingering health doubts. It's said that Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk only functioned after he overcame his crushing shyness with vast quantities of the spirit of Raki.

And he defeated every major European power and founded modern Turkey. So it worked for him. But he did die of cirrhosis at the age of 58.

Another danger comes with buying the Modafinil online. As with all illegally supplied drugs, you have no control over what you're getting. You could be sold something useless or, worse, dangerous.

And then there's that fundamental question: is false brain enhancement morally acceptable? And if it is, could it also ever be made safe?

Neuroscientist Greenfield thinks not. 'Drugs will always have sideeffects. If you want to improve your output, you should look at your lifestyle and goals. Not take drugs.'

Professor Sahakian treads a middle ground. 'There are better ways to enhance ourselves, such as education and exercise. If there are clean drugs that could make work easier and improve our lives, that would be great, but we'd have to be careful not to push ourselves to unpleasant limits.'

Cephalon, who manufacture Provigil, said it only supported approved uses for the drug. It is 'naturally opposed to all forms of purchases which are not under the control of physicians such as online sales,' their spokesman added.

So - expensive, 'illegal' and a potential health risk. Think I'll stick to early nights instead.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1106022/Can-pill-make-brainier-This-intrepid-writer-decided-.html