Nootropics use in the workplace: psychiatric and ethical aftermath towards the new frontier of bioengineering

S. Zaami, R. Rinaldi, G. Bersani, A. Del Rio, C. Ciallella, E. Marinelli

Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopedic Sciences, Departmental Section of Legal Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy. raffa.rinaldi@uniroma1.it

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• Pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: The authors have sought to expound upon and shed a light on the rise of nootropics, which have gradually taken on a more and more relevant role in workplaces and academic settings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Multidisciplinary databases have been delved into by entering the following keys: “nootropics”, “cognitive enhancement”, “workplace”, “productivity”, “ethics”, “bioengineering”. In addition, a broad-ranging search has been undertaken on institutional websites in order to identify relevant analysis and recommendations issued by international institutions and agencies. Papers and reports have been independently pored over by each author. This search strategy has led to the identification of 988 sources but only 64 were considered appropriate for the purposes of the paper after being selected by at least 3 of the authors, independently.

RESULTS: The notion of an artificially enhanced work performance – carried out by the ‘superworker’ – is particularly noteworthy and resonates with the conception of contemporary work on so many different levels: the rising need and demands for higher degrees of flexibility and productivity on the job, the implications of a ‘24/7’ society, where more and more services are available at any time, the ever greater emphasis on entrepreneurial spirit, individual self-reliance and self-improvement, and last but not least, the impact of an ageing society on economic standards and performance.

CONCLUSIONS: Moreover, it is worth mentioning that human enhancement technologies will predictably and increasingly go hand in hand with gene editing, bioengineering, cybernetics and nanotechnology. Applications are virtually boundless, and may ultimately affect all human traits (physical strength, endurance, vision, intelligence and even personality and mood).

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