ABSTRACT
Neuroenhancement* refers to the use of applications of modern neurosciences to make people better-smarter, happier, more sociable, and so on. For example, many students (according to some studies, more than 5 percent) and their professors (according to some studies, up to 20 percent) in the United States use drugs such as modašnil (e.g., Provigil), methylphenidate (e.g., Ritalin), and dextroamphetamine (e.g., Adderall), to increase their recall, attention span, problem-solving ability, and ability to focus on cognitive tasks. The use of these drugs for neuroenhancement is off-label; the users suffer neither from narcolepsy nor from Alzheimer’s disease for which the drugs were originally developed. The users just want to enhance their cognitive performance (Goodman 2010, 146-148; Lane 2009). Neuroenhancement also includes manipulation of moods and emotions. Some people who do not need antidepressants or other psychotropic drugs to sustain or restore their health use, for example, ¢uoxetine (e.g., Prozac) to enhance their subjective emotional well-being and improve their social life (Kraemer 2010). The scope of the term neuroenhancement is not restricted to the use of drugs. Neuroenhancement may, at least in theory, take place also through surgeries, and magnetic or electrical stimulations of the brain (Glannon 2006, 38).
