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Memory Enhancement Drugs

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Review how different memory enhancement drugs may work and how their development could influence society.
Memory enhancing drugs also referred to as nootropics and smart drugs have the capabilities of enabling high functioning retrieval of information. Use of smart drugs can influence society, the benefits and the risks need to be carefully considered if nootropics were to become available to the public.
Memantine is a voltage-dependant N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist with characteristics of moderate binding affinity and fast receptor kinetics. Memantine acts on the glutamatergic signalling system and ionotropic receptors such as NMDA . Memantine is prescribed to those that experience a loss of memory due to neurological …show more content…
NMDA receptors are made of subunit complexes, with the NR2 subunit regulating channel gating, this subunit has found to have longer excitatory postsynaptic potentials which increase the duration period for NMDA receptors to detect synaptic coincidence thereby increasing synaptic efficacy for memory function.3 In support of this, Memantine at certain concentrations has found to extend the duration of LTP.2 This demonstrates how regular function of the NMDA receptor is vital for inducing LTP and how Memantine action on dysfunctional receptors can prevent memory loss.
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) prevent the action of Acetylcholine (ACh) by hydrolysing the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. Acetylcholinesterase breaks down excessive quantities of ACh. ACh is a central neurotransmitter in the mechanisms of modulating memory and learning through synaptic plasticity. AChEI blocks the production of this acetylcholinesterase, preventing ACh from breaking down. This high concentration of extracellular ACh relieves progressive loss of cholinergic function in …show more content…
Currently, individuals are generally not held responsible for forgetting, this may change if memory drugs become widely available. Moral obligation to use memory enhancement pharmaceuticals to guarantee the maintenance of relevant memories could be enforced by society but if the memory is adversely affecting the witness, it causes psychological harm. Additionally, once the information is recorded the witness does not have a duty to retain this information and if the use of memory drugs consolidates memories, it will be difficult to

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