Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.3.1.177 (BIS)
 957 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cognitive enhancement, a rather broad-ranging principle, can be achieved in various ways: healthy eating and consistent physical exercise can lead to long-term improvements in many cognitive domains; commonplace stimulants such as caffeine, on the other hand, temporarily raise levels of alertness, attentiveness, and concentration; sedative substances are also used as an indirect form of enhancement to relax before an exam or an important meeting. Such approaches raise no ethical issue. Nonetheless, clinical research has led to the off-label use of drugs called nootropics or "smart drugs", which can, under certain conditions, elicit some degree of cognition-improving effects: methylphenidate and modafinil can enhance working memory and concentration in healthy individuals, although the significance and effectiveness of such applications are dubious. Such "cognitive enhancement" methods, however, do raise multiple ethical issues, and their contentious nature has caused bioethical authorities to lay out opinions and recommendations meant to regulate their use. Most notably, the Italian Committee on Bioethics has extensively dealt with the spread of nootropics, which resulted in the Italian Code of Medical Ethics including "cognitive enhancement" drugs and their prescription by doctors as critical points, along with cosmetic surgery (the latest version of the Code, updated in December 2017, deals with the two separately, in Article 76 and 76 BIS). The United States Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues broadened the scope of cognitive enhancement techniques so as to include neural modifiers, i.e. mechanisms of brain and nervous system change: a much wider array of interventions, technologies, behaviors, and environmental conditions that may potentially affect several aspects of the human brain and nervous system. The potential of neuroscience to profoundly reshape society is nothing short of mind-blowing.
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PMID:Pharmacological Human Enhancement: An Overview of the Looming Bioethical and Regulatory Challenges. 3212 92

Background: This study examined patterns of problematic shopping behavior by South Korean internet users to investigate the association between problematic internet shopping (PIS) and dissociative experiences.; Methods: Five hundred and ninety eight participants from 20-69 years old were recruited through an online panel survey. We gathered information about sociodemographic characteristics, alcohol use, caffeine intake, and online shopping behaviors. Psychopathological assessments included Korean version of dissociative experience scale (DES-K), Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI-K), the modified Stress Response Inventory (SRI-MF), the Barratt Impulsive Scale-11-Revised (BIS-K). We used multiple logistic regression analysis with the Richmond compulsive buying scale (RCBS-K) as the dependent variable.; Results: The prevalence of shoppers with internet-based problem shopping was 12.5%. The amount of time spent on online shopping was correlated with PIS severity (OR = 1.008, p < 0.01). The risk of PIS was related to an increased tendency toward dissociation (OR = 1.044, p < 0.001) and impulsivity (OR = 1.046, p < 0.05). Conclusions: PIS participants with dissociation showed higher levels of perceived stress, gambling problems, and impulsivity than did PIS participants without dissociation. This study suggests that dissociation was associated with a higher burden of PIS as it was connected to poor mental health problems.
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PMID:The Association of Problematic Internet Shopping with Dissociation among South Korean Internet Users. 3238 45