Eine Pille macht klug. Untersuchungen im Auftrag der US-Regierung bestätigten, dass die künstlich hergestellten Wirkstoffe Modafinil und Ampakine das Denkvermögen und die Leistungsfähigkeit des menschlichen Gehirns steigern können. Danielle Turner von der Universität Cambridge hat die Wirkung von Modafinil an 60 Probanden getestet. Ergebnis: Das Denkvermögen und die Leistungsfähigkeit stiegen proportional zum Schwierigkeitsgrad der gestellten Aufgaben. Eine andere Studie an der Universität von Kalifornien zeigte, dass der Wirkstoff Ampakine zudem zu einer Verbesserung der Wahrnehmung und des Gedächtnisses führt. Die Forscher stellten bei Mäusen fest. Wie genau die Pharmaka wirken, ist allerdings noch nicht klar. Bisher wurden sie bei der Behandlung von Narkolepsie, Hyperaktivität oder Alzheimer eingesetzt. Als Nebenwirkungen können Schlafstörungen und Unwohlsein auftreten. H.M.
In der englischsprachigen Berichterstattung erfährt man mehr (BBC):
One of these drugs, Modafinil, was developed to treat people who involuntarily fall asleep. Dr Danielle Turner, of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Cambridge University, tested the drug out on 60 healthy volunteers.
It did not just keep them awake. She found that the effects on their brains were much more dramatic. "We tested them two hours after they had taken a single dose of Modafinil and found quite strong improvements in performance, particularly when things got difficult," she said. "That was interesting - as problems got harder, their performance seemed to improve. With Modafinil they seemed to think a bit longer and they were more accurate."
Bjorn Stenger was one of the volunteers in Dr Turner's study. He told us how the drug affected him. "During the test I felt very alert (= wach[sam], munter) and I could focus very well on the problems at hand. I had no problems memorising rows of numbers. I felt pretty much that I was on top of my game."
Modafinil is in common use in the US, officially for treating sleeping disorders. But according to internet chat rooms, it is also widely used by students and busy professionals to give their brains a boost.
Hier noch der Auszug aus einem Interview mit Danielle Turner (siehe auch Bild) (ABC):
Q: Are you saying that you just think it's like a lot of good coffee or is it something more than that?
DANIELLE TURNER: Well, that's what we don't know and, you know, is it just because it's a pharmaceutical drug that they're concerned about it. We don't know yet what the long term effects are, we don't really have a good idea of what happens if you take it every day for several years.
Drugs like this work by boosting the activity of glutamate, a key neurotransmitter that makes it easier to learn and encode memory. The drugs could change the rules about what it takes to create a memory, and how strong those memories can be.
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