An argument in the cognitive enhancement literature is that using stimulants in populations of healthy but socially disadvantaged individuals mistakenly attributes pathology to nonpathological individuals who experience social inequalities. As the argument goes, using stimulants as cognitive-enhancing drugs to solve the social problem of poorly educated students in inadequate schools misattribu...

A large number of recreational and elite athletes use nutritional supplements in hopes of improving performance. These aids can be costly and potentially harmful, and the advertised ergogenic gains are often based on little or no scientific evidence. Due to the lack of regulation of the dietary supplement industry, an abundance of supplement products of dubious value, content, and quality are n...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW During the last decades androgens have been used illicitly by athletes of both genders. Because of some obvious ethical limitations, mechanisms underlying the performance-enhancing effects of these hormone or drugs, as well as the magnitude of their effects, have been poorly addressed. This review aims to combine findings from field and from the laboratory to provide new insig...

OBJECTIVE To determine patterns and knowledge of nonmedical use of stimulants among a sample of college students. DESIGN Completion of an anonymous survey consisting of 23 questions designed to explore college student use of medications intended to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. SETTING A private liberal arts college in New England. PARTICIPANTS Three hundred forty-seven ...

Psychology's impact as an ergogenic aid across sports and competitive levels has been well documented. In addition, exercise can play a major role in disease prevention and health enhancement while also enhancing psychological well-being. In addition to its preventive value, exercise is being recognized as a valuable therapeutic tool. Like most therapeutic modalities, however, exercise also has...

Objective To present a case series of children retrialed on stimulants after initial poor stimulant responses given the paucity of information on the usefulness of this strategy. Methods Health records from an ADHD medication service were obtained for six children who: (i) were medication naïve at service entry; (ii) had trials of at least one stimulant from each stimulant class; (iii) subseq...

The ergogenic effects of caffeine on performance are well documented. These effects are more evident in endurance and short-duration, sustained-effort events than in interactive or stop-go sports. Experimentally-induced placebo effects of caffeine on sports performance have also been observed in a number of recent studies. In the present paper it is argued that, given the nature of the sports i...

The present study examined the impact of motivational music and oudeterous (neutral in terms of motivational qualities) music on endurance and a range of psychophysical indices during a treadmill walking task. Experimental participants (N=30; mean age=20.5 years, SD=1.0 years) selected a program of either pop or rock tracks from artists identified in an earlier survey. They walked to exhaustion...

The article describes a study examining placebo effects associated with the administration of a hypothetical ergogenic aid in sport. Forty-two team-sport athletes were randomly assigned to 2 groups. All subjects completed 3 x 30-m baseline sprint trials after which they were administered what was described to them as an ergogenic aid but was in fact 200 mg of cornstarch in a gelatin capsule. Gr...

Oral supplementation with glycine-arginine-α-ketoisocaproic acid (GAKIC) has previously been shown to improve exhaustive high-intensity exercise performance. There are no controlled studies involving GAKIC supplementation in well-trained subjects. The aim of the current study was to examine the effects of GAKIC supplementation on fatigue during high-intensity, repeated cycle sprints in trained ...