Cognitive Enhancement and Education: Perspectives from a Low-and Middle-Income Context
By Jayashree Dasgupta and Georgia Lockwood Estrin This piece is part of a series of featured posts from the 2020 International Neuroethics Society Meeting . It is based on an abstract titled “How Do Parents View Cognitive Enhancers for their Children? Evidence from India” that won the award for the “Best Oral Presentation.” Image courtesy of Wim Klerkx The term “cognitive enhancement” generally refers to improvements made above or beyond the “typical” or “normal” in areas of cognitive functioning like attention, memory, and speed of processing. Strategies for cognitive enhancement include a variety of approaches such as exogenous agents, e.g., pro-cognitive drugs and nutritional supplements, behavioral interventions, and neuromodulation techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation (Keshavan, Vinogradov, Rumsey, Sherrill, & Wagner, 2014). However, as “normal” depends upon the context, the scope of cognitive enhancement has been a hot topic of debate, particularly when it comes