HUMANS have always tried to get the edge over each other but the future may see us going to disturbing new lengths to succeed.

Psychopharmacologist Sarah Benson is researching the growing area of nootropics, which are also known as smart drugs, and can help people focus and work longer hours.

“Nootropics are cognitive enhancers that can improve memory, alertness and concentration,” Dr Benson told news.com.au.

“There are many different types and the most common is caffeine.”

She said humans had been using cognitive enhancers for a long time and they included natural ingredients such as ginseng (believed to boost energy) or bacopa (traditionally used by Vedic scholars to help them memorise hymns and scriptures).

But the rise of prescription drugs has created a new source of cognitive enhancers and this has experts like Dr Benson worried.

She’ll be sharing her research and concerns at Humans 2.0, a free National Science Week event that will reflect on the future of the human species and how wearables, transplantables, cognitive enhancement, genetic engineering and nanotechnology may change people’s lives.

Dr Benson said drugs like Ritalin and Adderall, which are used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as drugs to treat narcolepsy (excessive daytime sleepiness) were now being used illegally by healthy people for cognitive enhancement.

The drugs can help people sit and concentrate for an entire day’s work and may also help give them motivation to do tasks they wouldn’t usually want to do. Some may also improve people’s moods.

In particular, Dr Benson thought the drugs were attractive to specific groups, like students, or in working environments that were competitive and demanding.

“If you can work a 12-hour day and get more work done in these competitive roles, it’s a massive benefit to have,” she said.

But there could also be downsides that go beyond the potential health impacts.

“Ritalin for example has been found to increase risk-taking,” Dr Benson said.

So for someone working in the finance industry, for example, it may influence them to be a little less careful when investing.

There are also ethical questions. Is there a limit to how much humans should be developing and taking these drugs?

Right now cognitive enhancement use in Australia is quite low — about 5-10 per cent of the population — but Dr Benson said when you looked at the student population, it was a lot higher.

“The problem is people (in this group) perceive cognitive use as pretty common. So if you are at work and you think other people are taking it, you’ll take it,” she said.

Dr Benson said she thought use of smart drugs would increase in Australia as it was already becoming more popular in the US, and we tended to be about two years behind their trends.

“I think we are on the verge of seeing more common use,” she said.

The illegal industry of distributing the drugs is partly being fuelled by online availability, as well as younger people who have prescriptions selling the drugs to friends.

Dr Benson said these people were taking a risk, especially those who brought the drugs from overseas.

“You don’t know if you are getting the real drug, a placebo or a different drug,” she said.

“And there is really limited research on smart drugs and particularly regarding its long-term safety effects.”

While the use of these drugs appears destined to become more common, Dr Benson said there were a lot of issues that needed to be thought through.

“I think humans have always been trying to improve themselves and that’s not a new thing,” she said.

“If this is done the correct way and by considering safety and having responsibility over what is done, I think there is potential to move things forward in a positive way but I think it has to be done extremely cautiously and over time.”

Sarah Benson will appear as part of Humans 2.0, a free speculative storytelling event being held as part of National Science Week on Wednesday, August 15 at 524 Flinders Event Space in Melbourne.