A study conducted by the University of Cambridge has shown that these substances are not always effective and, above all, to be taken with caution.
They are called “smart drugs”, these are the drugs supposed to make you more efficient whether at work or during exams. And during these major exam periods, it may be tempting to use these drugs to channel attention, boost performance… This ranges from concentrated caffeine tablets, such as Guronsan, to powerful psychostimulants, such as Ritalin, originally prescribed for attention disorders, but increasingly misused in certain professional circles.
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The University of Cambridge wanted to know if it was really effective. She therefore conducted a study on 40 volunteers: 23 women and 17 men aged 18 to 35 who have no particular pathology. Some received a placebo, others real drugs, such as two powerful psychostimulants which are only available in France on prescription. They alternately tested the three solutions, without knowing whether they were taking sugar or a real stimulant.
An hour and a half later, they were subjected to a cognitive test: “the backpack problem”, a fairly banal mathematical problem. The objective is to select objects of different values to put them in a backpack, without exceeding the capacity set by this backpack. Result: the researchers realized that the participants who had taken the real drugs spent more effort for less success. But in the end, they can’t find the solution anymore.
Nothing better than sleep
These drugs can indeed reduce the effects of fatigue, give you a boost, increase your motivation, but only at the time. In the long term, it cannot and should not replace the benefits of sleep.
Moreover, these molecules are to be taken with great care: they can make you irritable, even, for certain psychostimulants, lead to a state of dependence with hallucinations.