A drug with no bad side-effects
Drugs developed to enhance memory may benefit healthy people, as well as those with diseases such as Alzheimer’s, a University of Melbourne senior lecturer, claims. Dr Olivia Carter tells DPS News, while she does not advocate drug use; there are ways our lives can be improved through drugs.
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Drugs developed to enhance memory may benefit healthy people, as well as those with diseases such as Alzheimer’s, a University of Melbourne senior lecturer, claims.
Dr Olivia Carter tells DPS News, while she does not advocate drug use; there are ways our lives can be improved through drugs.
She was in Adelaide last week at the city’s Festival of Ideas, where she discussed what society might look like if drugs had no negative side-effects.
“To me, there is no reason why we won’t see some drugs that improve brain capacity in healthy people, not just sick people, so they can live a fuller life,” Dr Carter says.
“My position is in the middle at the moment… it’s early days; but the long-term consequences is often going to be that people think we can’t take drugs because of some major side-effect [it will have on us]… but it is quite possible there will be no implications on the brain,” she explains.
According to Dr Carter, who conducted experiments in Switzerland which looked at the effects of hallucinogenic drugs on healthy volunteers during her PhD, “open dialogues” need to occur on all of the “positives and negatives” surrounding drug-use.
“My point is that we need to consider a future where there are less negative biological consequences… the drug itself may not be doing any damage to a person,” she claims.
“I think we need to be open to the idea that there are drugs that may benefit society, such as universal immunisations.
“There might come a time when it is generally considered useful for everyone to have better memories… there will certainly be an argument launched in that direction,” she adds.
According to Dr Carter, concerns around drugs, particularly when they are not used for medical purposes, always focuses on “negative side-effects and unforeseen consequences”.
“I am quite interested in seeing how using drugs can help us to understand how the healthy brain works,” she says.
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