Would this be useful for cognitive decline in stroke rehab? We'll never know since nothing seems to be ever followed up to help stroke survivors.
The first study to both show and measure the effects of
cognitive-enhancing drugs such as modafinil, methylphenidate (best known
under the trade name Ritalin), and caffeine, on chess play is being
published in the March edition of the peer-reviewed journal European
Neuropsychopharmacology. This shows significant cognitive improvements
for modafinil and methylphenidate, and may have influence how these
drugs are used off-label in a range of activities.
The study shows how certain drugs can alter and even improve the way
in which the brain processes complex information. As applied to chess
(and other fields), this supports the possibility pharmaceutical
enhancement giving a player a competitive advantage. The World Chess
Federation, FIDE, recognised this by introducing an anti-doping code in
20141.
Now a new double-blind randomised controlled trial by scientists from
German and Swedish universities has shown that the cognitive enhancing
drugs, modafinil, methylphenidate, and caffeine can improve chess play.
Previous research had shown that the drugs could improve cognitive
performance when a subject was tired or was performing below his or her
optimal performance, but this is the first work to show improvement of
cognitive performance even if the subject is performing at a very high
level.
The team, led by Professor Klaus Lieb (University of Mainz, Germany)
gave 39 male chess players controlled doses of one of the drugs
modafinil, methylphenidate, caffeine, or a placebo. They then played a
series of rapid, time-limited (15 minutes) games against a chess
programme (the popular Fritz 12 programme) which had been matched to the
strength of each individual player. This was a 4-day “crossover” study,
meaning that the player had who taken modafinil on day 1 would receive a
different drug (or placebo) on each subsequent day, and so on. In total
the researchers gathered data from over 3000 chess games.
“One of the strengths of this study is that the chess programme
provides a reference point to measure the cognitive effect”, commented
Professor Lieb, “
They found that all three substances tested caused the players to
increase the time needed to decide on a move, meaning that more games
were lost as the players ran out of time. However, when the analysis was
corrected to take out games lost on time, the team found that both
modafinil and methylphenidate significantly increased the players’
scores, whereas caffeine showed a more modest, but not statistically
significant improvement.
“We were surprised to see that players on the drugs played more
slowly than normal, indicating that their thought processes seemed to be
deeper” said Professor Lieb.
He continued:
“The key to this work is in understanding that players showed an
improvement if under less time pressure. The results themselves would be
pretty significant in chess terms. For example, both modafinil and
methylphenidate gave an improvement coefficient of around 0.05. If we
correct for the slowest players, then the effect would be the equivalent
of moving a player from say, number 5000 in the world ranking, to
number 3500 in the world ranking. In a single game, the effect is the
equivalent of having the white pieces, every time, which give around a
5% better chance of winning.
These differences can be pretty significant in a competitive sport or
game. But this work also allows us to put a figure on the way that the
use of these drugs can affect the way we think in a range of everyday
intellectual activities, such as studying for an exam.”
The researchers stress that the use of these drugs as cognitive
enhancers are ‘off-label’ uses, and may have significant side effects,
especially with repeated use. As all pharmaceutical substances have
risks and benefit, there is little data that compares the benefit of
cognitive enhancement against any risk or side effect. They also note
that this is a comparatively small study, and requires replication
before firm conclusions can be drawn.
Trevor Robbins (Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University
of Cambridge), who was once ranked in the top 20 chess players in
England, commented:
“Chess involves several higher brain processes including working
memory, planning, cognitive flexibility and cognitive control. Drugs
such as modafinil have previously been found to enhance performance of
such cognitive functions in laboratory based studies of non-sleep
deprived volunteers, although sometimes at the cost of prolonging
response times.
This work, one of the first to study drug effects on chess, shows
that these performance enhancements can translate into real-world
activities in this study of chess players who improved their
performance, though sometimes at the cost of losing on time. ".
Professor Robbins won the Brain Prize in 2014, which is considered the most important international neuroscience prize.
Professor David Nutt (Imperial College), ex-President of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, added:
“We have known for decades that stimulants improve sustained
performance through reducing fatigue effects on attention and vigilance.
So these current data provide new and controlled data in chess - a test
of complex cognitive function. It’s likely that other stimulants could
do the same so this does raise interesting issues for regulators of
these activities. Clearly more research is needed”
http://www.europeanneuropsychopharmacology.com/article/S0924-977X(17)30019-6/abstract
