title: Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement in Healthy Individuals: A Compensation for Cognitive Deficits or a Question of Personality?
abstract: The ongoing bioethical debate on pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) in healthy individuals is often legitimated by the assumption that PCE will widely spread and become desirable for the general public in the near future. This assumption was questioned as PCE is not equally save and effective in everyone. Additionally, it was supposed that the willingness to use PCE is strongly personality-dependent likely preventing a broad PCE epidemic. Thus, we investigated whether the cognitive performance and personality of healthy individuals with regular nonmedical methylphenidate (MPH) use for PCE differ from stimulant-naïve controls. Twenty-five healthy individuals using MPH for PCE were compared with 39 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls regarding cognitive performance and personality assessed by a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery including social cognition, prosocial behavior, decision-making, impulsivity, and personality questionnaires. Substance use was assessed through self-report in an interview and quantitative hair and urine analyses. Recently abstinent PCE users showed no cognitive impairment but superior strategic thinking and decision-making. Furthermore, PCE users displayed higher levels of trait impulsivity, novelty seeking, and Machiavellianism combined with lower levels of social reward dependence and cognitive empathy. Finally, PCE users reported a smaller social network and exhibited less prosocial behavior in social interaction tasks. In conclusion, the assumption that PCE use will soon become epidemic is not supported by the present findings as PCE users showed a highly specific personality profile that shares a number of features with illegal stimulant users. Lastly, regular MPH use for PCE is not necessarily associated with cognitive deficits.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction (ISGF), Associated Institute at the University of Zurich and WHO Collaborating Centre, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Larissa J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: Experimental and Clinical Pharmacopsychology, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wunderli
authors.affiliation: Experimental and Clinical Pharmacopsychology, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vonmoos
authors.affiliation: Center of Forensic Hairanalytics, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Römmelt
authors.affiliation: Center of Forensic Hairanalytics, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Markus R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Seifritz
authors.affiliation: Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction (ISGF), Associated Institute at the University of Zurich and WHO Collaborating Centre, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Schaub
authors.affiliation: Experimental and Clinical Pharmacopsychology, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Boris B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Quednow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000652:urine; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008297:Male; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000652:urine; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000652:urine; D010551:Personality; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012201:Reward; D012919:Social Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014556:Urine; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D008774:Methylphenidate