Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and cognitive enhancement. Which is the medical responsibility?

Abstract

The article is about neuropharmacological enhancement of cognition, one of the most common topics ofthe Neuroethics and Bioethics applied to Neuroscience. It discusses the rational use of these drugs. Socialnormalization, according to Georges Canguilhem, unifies diversity establishing common values for society.The pharmacological cognitive enhancement can help the compliance of the duties and expectations arisingfrom these values. The cosmetic and therapeutic pharmacological cognitive enhancement (for example, usedin ADHD, case in which this article is focusing) implies for the physicians the social responsibility of makingeasier the compliance of certain social expectations, adhering to them implicitly. Then it is necessary for thephysician to reflect about the meaning of those social expectations taking into account values such as life,identity, integrity, freedom, health and welfare of persons and communities.