Sports doping is controversial enough. Well, how about brain doping?

At college campuses, poker tournaments and even orchestra halls use of prescription drugs to boost concentration, relaxation and memory in healthy people is on the rise. A 2005 survey of 10,000 U.S. students found that 4 to 7 percent have used prescription stimulants. On some campuses the rate is as high as 25 percent.

Professors, it seems, use them as well.

And why not?

That’s the question posed in a commentary published Sunday in Nature, the international science and medical journal. The authors, all of them major academic voices in law, medical ethics and health care policy, make the case that healthy adults “should be able to engage in cognitive enhancement using drugs.”

After all, they say, we drink coffee and take Vitamins, which also improve brain function.Why not a pill?

“We should welcome new methods of improving our brain function. In a world in which human work spans and lifespans are increasing, cognitive enhancements tools including pharmacological will be increasingly useful for improved quality of life and extended work productivity.”

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Here’s a study that offers up another reason to exercise  — it just might save you from dementia. 

Okay, that’s a broad conclusion for a pretty small study, and one that’s based on the recollections of people who are in their 70s and 80s. But it’s intriguing. 

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