BRAIN RESEARCH

The September issue of Scientific American is always a special issue on a specific topic. This year it is on the topic of “Better Brains”. (You can read the summaries online free, but have to pay to read the full articles, or go to a library.)

The issue of course summarizes research and development in the neurosciences. Much of the issue focuses on means to deal with brain pathology, but I was struck by two specific remarks:

Fred H. Gage says in “Brain, Repair Yourself” (page 53): “The best ways to augment brain function might not involve drugs or cell implants but lifestyle changes. Like many other organs, the brain responds positively to exercise, a good diet and adequate sleep, which are already known to enhance normal brain function with fewer side effects and other problems than most of the other strategies described above.”

Stephen S. Hall’s article, “The Quest for a Smart Pill” describes R&D done by the military and others to develop drugs to enhance brain performance. He notes that caffeine, in amounts comparable to that obtained drinking a lot of coffee, is a good standard against which to compare pharmaceutical cognitive enhancers.

What does this have to do with Knowledge for Development? I think enhanced cognitive performance would in fact help developing countries in their K4D strategies. And indeed, I suspect that in the coming century we will have aids to improve learning in schools and cognitive performance under stress and unfavorable conditions. Scientific American tells me that we won’t have them soon.

I don’t want to fall into the trap of suggesting that people in poor countries are not smart. Certainly there are a lot of smart people. But there are a lot of people who have not had enough to eat, who don't get adequate rest because they don’t have a good place to sleep, and who can’t afford a few cups of coffee when they need them. I suspect that programs to prevent hunger and the worst aspects of poverty would help improve cognitive performance of the poor, and that the beneficiaries would be more economically productive as a consequence.