Cognitive enhancement takes many and diverse forms. In this paper, we survey the current state of the art in cognitive enhancement methods and consider their prospects for the near-term future. We then review some of ethical issues arising from these technologies. We conclude with a discussion of the challenges for public policy and regulation created by present and anticipated methods for cognitive enhancement. I.

www.nickbostrom.com Human beings are a marvel of evolved complexity. Such systems can be difficult to enhance. When we manipulate complex evolved systems which are poorly understood, our interventions often fail or backfire. It can appear as if there is a “wisdom of nature” which we ignore at our peril. Sometimes the belief in nature’s wisdom – and corresponding doubts about the prudence of tampering with nature, especially human nature – manifest as diffusely moral objections against enhancement. Such objections may be expressed as intuitions about the superiority of the natural or the troublesomeness of hubris, or as an evaluative bias in favor of the status quo. This paper explores the extent to which such prudence‐derived anti‐enhancement sentiments are justified. We develop a heuristic, inspired by the field of evolutionary medicine, for identifying promising human enhancement interventions. The heuristic incorporates the grains of truth contained in “nature knows best ” attitudes while providing criteria for the special cases where we have reason to believe that it is feasible for us to improve on nature. 1.

Extensive evidence suggests that glucose has both positive and negative effects on memory and these effects likely involve an influence on the brain. For instance, direct infusions of glucose into the septum (MS) or hippocampus can enhance or impair memory. The present set of experiments attempted to determine the different conditions that dissociate the memory-enhancing and-impairing effects of glucose in rats. Specifically, these experiments examined the effects of glucose in spontaneous alternation, a measure of spatial working memory and shock avoidance, an index of emontional long-term memory. The results showed that the memory-impairing effects of MS infusions of glucose are not concentration-dependent. These data also indicated that the memory-impairing effects of MS glucose elevations are specific to _-aminobuytric acid (GABA) receptor activation but do not depend on increases in MS GABA synthesis or release. Importantly, we showed that the memory-impairing interaction between MS glucose and GABA agonists does not generalize to the hippocampus, suggesting the memory-modulating effects of glucose are brain region-dependent. We showed further that these brain region-dependent effects of glucose are not due to difference in basal extracellular glucose levels. Moreover, these findings showed that the

Abstract Cognitive enhancement takes many and diverse forms. Various methods of cognitive enhancement have implications for the near future. At the same time, these technologies raise a range of ethical issues. For example, they interact with notions of authenticity, the good life, and the role of medicine in our lives. Present and anticipated methods for cognitive enhancement also create challenges for public policy and regulation.