We all remember as children being told that we can’t have dessert unless we finish our dinner. And while the obedient child would, wincing and whining all the while, scrub his plate clean, the desperate and rebellious child would hide his lima beans in his napkin (while the smart one would sneak it onto his sister’s plate, leaving no evidence to dispose of) with the hopes of reaping the reward without paying his dues.

Whereas we don’t all share the same memories, (my family would have regarded lima beans as too exotic, being a poor potatoes and sometimes-meat family) we can all relate to the sentiment, in one way or another, of wanting to get something for nothing. But as Robert Heinlein said, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”. This concept of instant gratification and reward without work has, unfortunately for many of us, carried over into our adulthood, and it is now affecting the very structure and function of that most remarkable of human tools; the brain.

The September 16th, 2004 edition of The Economist contains a report entitled Supercharging the brain: New drugs promise to improve memory and sharpen mental response. As a former advocate of nootropics this caught my attention. What new classes of drugs were being developed and tested, and in what ways were they modifying our brain chemistry to achieve the desired results? But more intriguing to me now, in contrast to what I and others would have considered of interest only ten years ago, was the second portion of the title; Who should be allowed to take them? A fundamentally moral question.

The Economist reports that there are over 40 potential cognitive enhancers that are currently in development, and the cover story of Newsweek, – The Quest for Memory Drugs by Mary Carmichael – the week of November 29th, 2004, states that some of these new drugs could be available in as little as two years.

While most of these new drugs are aimed at restoring proper memory functions to those patients with clinical Mild Cognitive Impairment and those with Alzheimer’s disease, there is undoubtedly the temptation to utilize them to enhance the normal functionality of a healthy individual. In fact, many drugs are already being utilized on a regular basis to do just that, and by our very own government.

For almost three quarters of a century, American soldiers, and especially pilots, have been using amphetamines to keep themselves awake and alert for extended periods. These drugs, most notably dextroamphetamine, have not been employed by soldiers illicitly either; they are approved and endorsed by the U.S. Armed Services. One of the drugs that has come out of these memory and performance enhancement research labs, modafinil, has been authorized as an alternative to amphetamines. DARPA continues to support multiple research studies for increasingly more effective stimulants and memory enhancers.

There is the question, however, of potential long-term damage to the brain after prolonged use of these drugs.

The November 12th, 2003 edition of Yale Daily News reports on a study in its own industry journal, Neuron, that claims that drugs that work by varying the levels of protein kinase A, a technique employed in one form or another by many of the new drugs, could have long-term detrimental effects. Not all of the new drugs utilize this method, however, but long-term effects of these others remain to be seen.

Long-term effects and current government use aside, the real question remains, who should use such drugs? Or more to the point, should healthy people use such drugs?

Nobody doubts that many companies are eager to bring a memory enhancing pill to the general public. Who wouldn’t want to be able to score higher on exams or remember names, dates, faces and appointments with ease? Dr. Scott Small of CUMC, in Newsweek, put it best:

There’s a question of whether we should be in the business of making memory boosters in the first place. Once we’re in a gray area we at least need to be careful. With people who are impaired by a subtle but real change in their brain function, we might not want to sit in judgment and say ‘No, we can’t help you.’ But the fact that a high-school student can’t do well on the SAT – is that a disease?

Is it a disease, indeed? The truth is, we have all become lazy, and the memory pill that many are seeking is a quick fix, the lazy man’s way out. And this one fact renders all debate about who should use the memory pills moot. The pills should be reserved only for those with actual, diagnosed cognitive impairment. Though even the diagnosis is a gray area. Just take a look at other pharmaceutical fixes in our society. How many children really have ADD and need to take Ritalin, or is it an over diagnosed condition? How many adults really need Prozac or Paxil? Have we become a dependent society? I don’t think that the question even needs to be asked. Take away our pills and people will actually have to, brace yourself, deal with their problems!

Memory is indeed a very complicated aspect of the mind. But any healthy American with a “normal” memory can improve it one hundred-fold simply by learning how to learn. No miracle pills, no fad diets, no special exercises.

Everyone is familiar with the claims made of the ancient Greek memory. They were said to have been able to remember oodles of information. And it’s not difficult, even in today’s society that endorses not remembering a thing!

As an individual who employs memory professionally in my work, I know firsthand that this is possible. I was not born with a gift; I have not taken a special pill. My enhanced memory is the result of my own efforts to learn. What I do onstage – memorizing dictionaries, memorizing decks of cards and other demonstrations designed to impress and mystify – is all based on one very simple secret: that memorizing pi to 1000 digits is not really that hard. But people believe that it is. That is the only reason that I remain employed in this field! My secret it out.

I and other memory experts have often said that good memory can be broken down into three very simple categories:

- Attention
- Retention
- Recall

But most Americans fail miserably on the very first count.

It is my opinion that today’s pharmacologically foolish society is achieving the exact opposite of what they set out to do. Rather than create a society of individuals that are well-adjusted, healthy citizens with advanced mental capabilities, the United States and its endorsement and support of pharmaceutical giants (American or otherwise) is creating instead a culture of dependent, neurotic individuals who are lazy and self-centered with misplaced priorities who simply can not function without the assistance of drugs.

Though I do take issue with corporate America, I am speaking here not from a position of corporate intolerance, but rather, one of disillusionment in the direction and behavior of humans as humans.

Humanity has remarkable potential. The human brain and body can achieve the extraordinary, right now. But how can we move positively into the future and develop even further, if we are not willing and able to invest effort into the evolution of our very own self, with effort, attention and genuine mindfulness?

What Americans need is a return to the self, not another pill.
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MORE USEFUL LINKS
Use Your Perfect Memory – Tony Buzan
The Memory Book – Harry Lorayne

All you need to develop a stellar memory that will put even a doped up memory buff to shame is the work of the above two authors. Read it, learn it and above all, apply it. Though I mention dictionaries, cards and pi in the above article, those are merely stunts. Contained in these books are very practical techniques for remembering any type of information at all, and it will undoubtedly have positive impact on your daily life, regardless of age, background or education, if you only try.

Tony Buzan, Harry Lorayne, memory, nootropics, smart drugs, dextroamphetamine, cognitive enhancement, modafinil, DARPA, mnemonics