'Smart' or 'Study' drugs are usually prescribed for people with ADHD to help them concentrate. However many people without ADHD take them, in theory, to focus on studying - e.g. writing an essay or revising for an exam. The estimates of how many people have taken them vary between about 16-20%, and the use of these drugs is on the rise. So the question is do these drugs actually help complex cognitive processes that are required for study? Recent research done by Elizaeth Bowman and her colleagues aimed to find out and in this episode Elizabeth joins me to talk about their research and most importantly their findings.

You can read the orginal paper in Science Advances here:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add4165

You can read a summary (or share it with your students) here:

https://theconversation.com/smart-drugs-make-you-worse-at-solving-complex-problems-new-study-finds-207711

You can find out more about the Centre here:

https://www.unimelb.edu.au/cbmm