Archive 1995–2023

During the last two decades, an increasing interest innon-medical use of pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) has been noticed. Among PCE drugs, there arepsychostimulants, including methylphenidate, amphet-amines and modafinil. PCE is used by different groups ofpeople, mainly by students, but also surgeons, stock brokers, athletes, video game players, poker players. Effects of the aforementioned psychostimulants on cognitiveprocesses are consistently dependent on individual andsituational factors as well as the cognitive domain inquestion and applied analytical approach. Evidence fromseveral studies shows that methylphenidate, amphetamines and modafinil have limited pro-cognitive effects,especially when applied to subjects performing complextasks. Furthermore, they can deteriorate planning andcognitive flexibility. Adverse events produced by thesedrugs, mainly cardiovascular, psychiatric and neurologic,pose considerable safety risks on the consumers.