[TPIN] Article: Drugs to build up that mental muscle

[Larry Cipriani]

Stan,

I was prescribed Provigil several years ago for narcolepsy, one of the
indicated uses of the drug.  Yes, I did notice an improvement in mental
ability.  Some claim it just improves concentration, but it did more
than that for me.  I was able to do mentally difficult tasks at work
more quickly, my memory improved noticeable.  I didn't do a
before/after IQ test to measure the difference, but I definitely felt
smarter, and even able to do things I didn't think I could have done
before.

I stopped taking Provigil due to the side effects, some of which I'd
rather not go into on an "all ages" mailing list.

I suppose Provigil or similar drugs could help with the mental side of
playing music, it certainly wouldn't help with physical aspects of
playing.

Larry

--- Stan Baptista <stan.baptista at gmail.com> wrote:

>
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-braindoping20dec20,1,7766974,full.story?coll=la-news-science&ctrack=2&cset=true
> 
> I was surprised to find that according to the article above,
musicians
> and others are using drugs like Ritalin, Provigil, and Inderal to
> "clarify their minds, improve their concentration or control their
> emotions."
> 
> The article states that "[i]n the world of classical music, beta
> blockers such as Inderal have become _nearly as commonplace as
> metronomes_."
> 
> Wow.
> 
> I'm not surprised that musicians would try performance-enhancing
> drugs, I just didn't know about these in particular. Unlike the drugs
> causing pro baseball all the grief, they're not illegal.
> 
> Is the usage really that widespread? Do they work?
> 
> -Stan
> _______________________________________________
> TPIN mailing list
> TPIN at tpin.okcu.edu
> http://tpin.okcu.edu/mailman/listinfo/tpin
>