Cognitive Enhancement. Pharmacologic, Environmental and Genetic Factors

Table of Contents

1. What Is Cognitive Enhancement?

2. Signaling Pathways Involved in Cognitive Enhancement

3. Molecular Mechanisms of Drug-Induced Cognitive Enhancement

4. Role of Environment, Epigenetics and Synapses in Cognitive Enhancement

5. Transgenic Mice with Enhanced Cognition

6. The Use of Viral Vectors to Enhance Cognition

7. Advancing Fear Memory Research with Optogenetics

8. Can Stem Cells be used to Enhance Cognition?

9. Alzheimer's Disease and Mechanism-Based Attempts to Enhance Cognition

10. Pharmacological treatment of cognitive dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders

11. Cognitive Enhancement in Humans

12. The Use of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Cognitive Enhancement

13. Cognitive Enhancement: Ethical Considerations and a Look into the Future

Authors

Shira Knafo The University of the Basque Country, Biophysics Unit, Leioa, Spain. Shira Knafo is the head of the Molecular Cognition Laboratory and an Ikerbasque research professor at The University of the Basque Country (Biophysics Unit, Leioa). Her particular interests are in studying the molecular and synaptic mechanisms underlying learning and memory processes, cognitive malfunction and cognitive enhancement. Her experience in different scientific disciplines (medicine, animal behaviour, electrophysiology, molecular biology, morphology and imaging) allows her to adopt a multidisciplinary approach that is considered a great asset in modern neuroscience research. In 2012, she was awarded the Sieratzki Prize for Advances in Neuroscience (Tel-Aviv University) for her contributions in the field of cognitive neuroscience. In the same year, the Spanish National Research Council acknowledged her achievements in its annual tribute to its scientists. In 2013, the Spanish Ministry of Science awarded her an I3 certificate of excellence. César Venero Universidad de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain. Associate Professor, Department of Psychopharmacology at the Universidad de Educación a Distancia in Spain and is Director of the Lab for Neurobiology of Stress and Neurodegenerative Diseases. He has authored two books on psychopharmacology and memory work. He co-chaired the "Cognitive Enhancement in Health and Disease” symposium at the 2012 Federation for European Neuroscience annual meeting.