The Miracle Pill: What do brain boosting drugs mean for the future?

Date: 13.03.2013 18:30 - 19:45

Location: Nesta, 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE

If you could take a drug to boost your brain-power, would you? Drugs to enhance human performance are nothing new. Long-haul lorry drivers and aircraft pilots are known to pop amphetamines to stay alert, and university students down caffeine tablets to ward off drowsiness during all-nighters. But these stimulants work by revving up the entire nervous system and the effect is only temporary.

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Arguments over smart drugs are raging. If a drug can improve an individual's performance, and they do not experience side-effects, some argue, it cannot be such a bad thing. But where will it all stop? Ambitious parents may start giving mind-enhancing pills to their children. People go to all sorts of lengths to gain an educational advantage and eventually success might be dependent on access to these mind-improving drugs. No major studies have been conducted on the long-term effects. Some neuroscientists fear that, over time, these memory-enhancing pills may end up causing people to store too much detail, cluttering the brain.

• What are the limits to performance enhancement drugs, both scientifically and ethically? And who decides?
• Is there a role for such pills in developing countries, where an extra mental boost might make a distinct difference to those in developing countries?
• Does there need to be a global agreement to monitor the development of these pills?
• Should policymakers give drug companies carte blanche to develop these products or is a stricter regulatory regime required?

CHAIR: Louise Marston, Head of Innovation and Economic Growth, Nesta

Speakers:

• Dr Bennett Foddy, Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Science and Ethics, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford
• Dr Anders Sandberg, James Martin Fellow, Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
• Dr Hilary Leevers, Head of Education & Learning, the Wellcome Trust

6pm registration for a 6.30pm start

This event formed part of the Next Big Thing events series. For more information about the series, please visit www.policyexchange.org.uk/next-big-thing

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