As Nature explained, the survey was started after the behavioral neuroscientists Barbara Sahakian and Sharon Morein-Zamir of the University of Cambridge, UK, have concluded in a commentary published last year that their colleagues were using drugs that purportedly enhance focus and attention.

1400 people from 60 countries responded to Nature’s online survey, which has as the main purpose to track the usage of three drugs. The respondents were asked if they have used on of the following three drugs: Ritalin (a drug commonly used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), Provigil (which is usually prescribed to those who have sleep disorder) and beta-blockers (a class of drugs prescribed for cardiac arrhythmia that also have an anti-anxiety effect)

Surprisingly, one in five respondents admitted that they have used at least on of the above drugs in order to improve their intellectual performance, concentration and memory.

According to Nature, Ritalin was the most popular drug amongst the respondents, (62% of users have used the drug), followed by Provigil (44%) and beta blockers.

A small percent of the respondents specified other drugs that they were taking such as centrophenoxine, piractem, dexedrine and various alternative medicines such as ginkgo and omega-3 fatty acids.

The attempt to improve concentration was indicated as the main reason of taking those drugs, while another large percent responded that they are using these drugs to improve focus for a specific task. The question related to the frequency of use revealed an even split between those who took them daily, weekly, monthly, or no more than once a year.

But, as Nature noted, there are also some unpleasant consequences and almost half of the people who responded to the survey said they have experienced some negative side effects such as headaches, jitteriness, anxiety and sleeplessness.

However, the unanimous opinion (86% of the respondents) was that healthy children under the age of 16 should be restricted from taking these drugs. On the other hand, one-third of respondents said they would feel pressure to give cognition-enhancing drugs to their children if other children at school were taking them.

The survey has also revealed that one third of the respondents have procured their drugs from the Internet.

The full article from Nature, with other conclusions and comments from the neuroscientists, is available here.