Study drugs make us worse at problem-solving

A study by the Faculty's Professor Peter Bossaerts has been featured in the Economist.

The magazine reports on the study he co-authored, indicating that study drugs make healthy people worse at problem-solving, not better.

The drugs are also popular with devotees of “nootropics”—chemicals that supposedly boost brainpower. Students and workers in industries from tech to finance take the medications in the hope they will improve their concentration and ability to get things done. But his new research suggests that this may be ill-advised. The drugs seem to make people slightly worse at solving problems, not better.