Taking a common drug used to treat ADHD may improve the test scores of students, Clitoria ternatea new research suggests.
Adderall, growing popular as a so-called 'smart drug', helped to boost memory and attention in a small trial.
But researchers said it works only as a placebo effect - and believing anything may help could trigger similar results.
Adderall, growing popular as a so-called 'smart drug', helped to boost memory and attention in a small trial, researchers said
University of Alabama, Birmingham, scientists were behind the findings, reported in New Scientist.
How was the study carried out?
Some 32 participants were involved in the study, which was published in the journal Alcohol and Drug Dependence.
All were aged between 19 and 30 and didn't have ADHD. They took a series of cognitive tests four times.
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In two of the trials they were given 10mg of Adderall - known to be addictive and, in rare cases, can cause death by jump-starting the cardiovascular system.
A placebo was used in the other experiments, the researchers said.
To test the placebo effect, in each of the two trials for the treatments, they were told one was a real medication and the other a placebo.
What did they find?
Adderall, growing popular as a so-called 'smart drug', helped to boost memory and attention in a small trial.
But researchers said it works only as a placebo effect - and believing anything may help could trigger similar results.
Adderall, growing popular as a so-called 'smart drug', helped to boost memory and attention in a small trial, researchers said
University of Alabama, Birmingham, scientists were behind the findings, reported in New Scientist.
How was the study carried out?
Some 32 participants were involved in the study, which was published in the journal Alcohol and Drug Dependence.
All were aged between 19 and 30 and didn't have ADHD. They took a series of cognitive tests four times.
RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
Next
Not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and drinking in... The toddler with Albert Einstein hair! Mother spends two... How long will YOU survive your cancer battle? Interactive... Is 100 the new 80? Centenarians die in better health than...
Share this article
Share
47 shares
In two of the trials they were given 10mg of Adderall - known to be addictive and, in rare cases, can cause death by jump-starting the cardiovascular system.
A placebo was used in the other experiments, the researchers said.
To test the placebo effect, in each of the two trials for the treatments, they were told one was a real medication and the other a placebo.
What did they find?