title: Drugs, games, and devices for enhancing cognition: implications for work and society.
abstract: As work environments change, the demands on working people change. Cognitive abilities in particular are becoming progressively more important for work performance and successful competition in a global environment. However, work-related stress, performance over long hours, lack of sleep, shift work, and jet lag affect cognitive functions. Therefore, an increasing number of healthy people are reported to use cognitive-enhancing drugs, as well as other interventions, such as noninvasive brain stimulation, to maintain or improve work performance. This review summarizes research on pharmacological and technical methods as well as cognitive training, including game apps for the brain, in healthy people. In neuropsychiatric disorders, impairments in cognitive functions can drastically reduce the chances of returning to work; therefore, this review also summarizes findings from pharmacological and cognitive-training studies in neuropsychiatric disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.|Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Annette B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Brühl
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Sahakian
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018910:Video Games; D017132:Workplace
chemical_list: D018697:Nootropic Agents
keywords: cognitive enhancement; devices; drugs; games