Memory Help

Dec 20, 2008 by Celastrus Shop

In the last quarter century, the methods at our disposal to help memory have evolved drastically. And while old-fashioned techniques are still valid and helpful, increasing technology and a growing understanding of how the brain learns and consolidates memories has made for a new era of memory help. External devices for remembering, herbal remedies, and even (more troublingly) off-label prescription use have all created a burgeoning industry of memory help both for people who need to give an ailing memory help and healthy people who want to become “better than well”.

Consider the evolution of the world wide web, and how drastically it has altered the way we search for and request help. In the nineties, as the internet was spreading into homes via now-archaic dial-up connections, no one could say for sure what would come of this emergent hub of personal interaction. Would anyone really use it, beyond computer geeks, role-playing gamers, and adult entertainment companies? Yet because of the internet, the way we communicate with each has changed radically other the last twenty years with respect to speed, diversity of media, depth of conversation, and our willingness to request help from new, often unfamiliar sources.

Computing technologies have also become a direct source of memory help. E-mail applications now come bundled with calendar software to remind us of events and responsibilities, and synchronize with our cellular phones. We should be grateful for the vast array of memory help we have today, because as technology advances, we frequently find our lives overrun with information, and expectations that decisions will be made and obligations met at ever-increasing speeds. However, while organizational technologies are useful, many people consider them a band-aid covering up the deeper issue of how we can get our brains to remember more stuff.

The quest for effective mind-enhancers, or nootropics, has been explored in works of science fiction for decades, including the 2011 film adaptation Limitless: in this work of near future sci-fi, a struggling New York writer gets the opportunity to try an experimental nootropic drug (NZT-48), which grants him a heightened sense of mental clarity, sharper perception, and enhanced mental stamina. Under the influence of NZT-48, he is able to finish his novel in four days. Fame and riches follow… until he runs out of the drug and begins to experience withdrawal symptoms including clouded thinking and paranoid delusions.

Could a future in which people use chemical enhancers to improve their cognition and memory really happen? Actually, in some ways, that future is already here. The explosion in prescriptions for drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin to control the symptoms of ADHD have resulted in an unexpected side effect; the concomitant rise in so-called “off-label” use of these drugs by healthy people seeking to become “better than well”.

ADHD drugs are basically a mixture of amphetamine salts with a stimulant effect designed to aid people who have short attention spans and extreme difficulty concentrating. This property also makes medications like Adderall attractive to university students: because these medications can generate artificially high, sustained levels of focus and energy, more than a few students have used them “off label” to stay on-task and productive for hours at a time during cram sessions and term paper/project all-nighters.

Such “off-label” stimulant use is, unsurprisingly, not approved by the FDA. Chronic use can lead to side effects including headache, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, nervousness, and may also be habit-forming. Furthermore, a few adults using Ritalin have experienced serious cardiac problems, although the drug’s role in these cases has not been determined. However, many overcommitted students continue to use stimulants “off-label” despite the drawbacks: a 2005 University of Michigan survey found that 4.1% of college or university students surveyed nationwide had used non-medically prescribed stimulants in the past year.

The expanding use of stimulants to enhance one’s capacity for concentration and mental stamina is not limited to university students. Modafinil, another stimulant originally prescribed to treat narcolepsy, can allow healthy people to work long hours without tiring, and thus is gaining popularity as an enhancer of workplace productivity. All this mental augmentation is beginning to lead both ordinary people and researchers in neuroscience to ask, “Is there a line we should draw when it comes to healthy people using drugs to augment their mental abilities?”

There are arguable downsides to using a prescription pill to enhance your mental focus—the obvious one being that no one knows what long-term negative effects such off-label use might have on one’s health. Then there’s the scary prospect that people might be socially pressured into taking a drug they may not want to in order to remain competitive at work or classes; or even worse, feel that they have to medicate their children to give them a leg up in school! Finally, it’s probable that taking stimulants to enhance one’s mental abilities may be a kind of band-aid in itself: while amphetamines allow people to concentrate for longer, they do not in themselves improve clarity of thought or memory recall. In fact, habitual users of prescription stimulants like Adderall often fall prey to a “rebound effect”, in which they experience dulled thinking for a while once they stop using the drug.

So what are people interested in natural memory help supposed to do? Fortunately, there are herbal alternatives to prescription drugs that have exhibited memory-boosting effects in clinical trials. Herbs such as celastrus seed and brahmi have been safely used for memory help in Ayurveda for millennia: these herbs seem to act as true nootropics, enabling the brain to create new neural connections without overstimulating the user. It may well be that our best options for memory help are still time-tested natural methods, including the skillful encoding of memories and the use of herbal supplements that give our brains the boost they need to remember accurately.