The jury is out on smart drugs

Should we take memory supplements, like Dame Judi Dench, to help us in our work?

The news that Dame Judi Dench finds learning her lines a lot easier since being advised by the master of Magdalen College to take the herbal compound Memorex IQ will, no doubt, have prompted many to wonder whether they, too, might benefit from a regular dose of a ‘’cognitive enhancer’’.

The main active ingredient here is the well–known Ginkgo biloba, which reputedly boosts the levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. Its efficacy is, however, disputed, with a report in Human Psychopharmacology last year claiming that it has “no effect at all – and may be a waste of time and money’’.

Still, there is no doubt that these ‘’smart drugs’’ (because they make you ‘’smarter’’) are very popular, being taken by more than a third of university students according to a survey conducted by New Scientist a couple of years ago. “I was able to write a 22–page paper in one day and got an A,” reported one of the respondents. “Normally I would not have been able to get a rough draft done in a week.”

To read this Daily Telegraph article in full, click here.

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