WEBVTT

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The question is, is it necessary 
and possible to improve the brain?

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Indeed. 


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The brain's an incredibly efficient organ 
which serves to survive, not to think.

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But thinking is very helpful for survival,

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that's why the brain thinks too.

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(Applause)

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Throughout 400 million years, 
the brain has been evolving,

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from a big shark with a small brain,

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to the human brain. 


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In the last 3 million years, a transition 
from ape to human took place.

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In the last 2 years, a Brazilian scientist
Suzana Herculano-Houzel,

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has revolutionized what we know
about the brain.

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The primate's brain is more organized
than that of other animals,

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including rodents or ungulates, 
which means we have great features.

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Our brain is very good,

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and now the human brain 
has begun to evolve even more.

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The bigger the brain, the greater
the possibilites of thinking, learning

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and ruling the world.

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From the brain of Australopithecus,

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through the upright man who knew fire,

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a Neanderthal who was already religious,

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to the brain of a caveman,

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a man from Cro-Magnon,

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language, culture, everything.


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Is that all? I guess not.

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The world is constantly changing,

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we ourselves change the world.

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That's why our brain 
works on the edge of efficiency.

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So the question is:

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Can we improve our brain more?


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Evolution didn't stop
with the caveman, for sure.

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Anatomic and genetic research proves 
that brain evolution is still in progress.

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Let's not get into details,

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but where does it come from?

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A hundred years ago, 
a farmer following a plow,

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I mean how much information 
did his brain process?

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Today, when traveling in a great
traffic jam, we have a lot of information.

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Nowadays, the brain has to process
an enormous amount of information

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and it has to do it in a flash.

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It's not a problem whether
a crow flies over a horse,

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but whether or not 
a motocyclist crashes into us.

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I won't describe it in great detail,
but there's a gene

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whose one form changes in a way 
that indicates the speed of evolution.

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We can see that the evolution
of the brain evolves all over the world.

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However, depending on the region, 
it is stronger or slower.

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The darker those black circles are, 
the faster the evolution is.

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Where was this evolution rapid?

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In places where races and cultures merged.

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The evolution in Latin America 
was progressing fast.

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In places where the environment 
was stable and where nothing changed,

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the brain didn't have to grow.

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In Sub-Saharan Africa, 
the evolution is slower.

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But it doesn't mean 
that it can't accelerate,

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because the brain evolution speeds up 
all over the world, and we know it.

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A New Zealander scientist, James Flynn,

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noticed that human intelligence,


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if measured by IQ tests, 
now and back in time,

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seemed to have been rising

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from generation
to generation, very much so.

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Take a look at the data about Europe.

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Half a century ago, in 1942, 
the average Britisher

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had IQ 73, so he was a complete fool.

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Look how everything is growing right now.

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And what was actually going on
with the mankind?

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It's terrifying.

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All those fantastic pyramid builders

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had IQ 50, or so.

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Rome, the Renaissance...

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It wasn't until the industrial revolution 
that intelligence started to speed up.

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So intelligence speeds up, 
perhaps a bit slower now.

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But there are still differences 
between social groups and races.

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A lot depends on education.

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In the USA there are two groups whose IQ 
is much higher than that of the rest.

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The Ashkenazi Jews, raised in schools
in the Talmudu base,

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and The Oriental Japanese and the Chinese 
with Confucian tradition.

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So the way we are taught may greatly
increase our learning abilities.

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Just like reading and writing skills

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improve connection 
between two cerebral hemispheres.

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Are we able to speed up the natural 
evolution progress even more?

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Some say, the brain is such a great organ
that nothing more can be done.

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However, if we take a closer look, 
we can see that the process of cognition

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is composed of other smaller processes.

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There are biochemical reactions 
in each of them,

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which enable us to make them work faster.

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This in turn makes the brain work faster.

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What can we currently do about it?

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We can surely speed up mental processes

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of people with mental retardation.

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For example in schizophrenia or hebetude.

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We can do something, 
we have good medicaments.

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The question is, 
can therapeutic treatments,

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which help the damaged brain,

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help the normal brain as well?

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It seems so.

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We apply many kinds 
of non-therapeutic technologies.

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We want to improve our memory, 
concentration, scope of attention

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and decision-making.

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When we look at this, there are two goals.

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First, we want to improve 
the brain permanently,

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meaning slowly, methodically,
to make it better and better,

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so we can be more and more inteligent.

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Secondly, there are sudden challenges, 
exams, TED lectures.

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I want to do something quickly,
so I take a pill before the lecture

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to face the new challenge 
that suddenly emerges.

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A long-term brain improvement 
is commonly accepted.

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On one hand, it is supposed 
to be a mind training.

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On the other, it is a healthy lifestyle, 
crucial for a good brain work.

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Furthermore, we increase
some areas of the cortex.

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For instance, meditation increases
the volume of the cortex

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in areas where thoughts 
and decisions are made.

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Finally, different types 
of vitamins and supplements.

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There has been a lot of talk 
about the role of the vitamin D3.

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Therefore, there are non-pharmacological
methods that enhance the brain.

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For example, glucose improves memory 
and makes it easier to memorize.

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Caffeine, coffee with sugar
and espresso work really great.

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Physical exercise is essential, 


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as it releases the substance
nourishing the nerves,

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BDNF neurothrophins.

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A sleep or a nap after studying
increases consolidation

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and transition from 
the short-term to the long-term memory.

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Meditation, mnemonics, computer training,
electrical brain stimulation...

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All of these things are essential.

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On the other hand, we work hard 
and we are exhausted.

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We need to wake up quickly somehow.

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We usually use pharmacological
methods to do so.

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There are so-called 
promnestic medicaments.

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These medicaments affect
the biochemistry of our brain,

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which makes these processes faster.

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These medicaments become
more and more common.

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Some politicians or ethicists
have concerns, other people less so.

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When improving the brain, we can observe 
something that happens in sports.

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We appreciate sportsmen,

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the effort they put into training.

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But we don't like those who use doping
before the competition.

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So, how is it?

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We want to stimulate our brain to work

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and we have medicaments for that,

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like caffeine in coffee or energy drinks.

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We also have three 
very precious stimulants,

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like amphetamine, 
methylphenidate and modafinil.

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Only coffeine is available 
without limits.

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After all, energy drinks have saved lives 
of plenty of passerbys,

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as they'd prevent the drivers
from falling asleep at the wheel.

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These are different types of stimulants.

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They are used for illness treatments,

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most often in ADHD.

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For example, Adderall, 
a mixture of amphetamine salts,

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used to be sold in Poland as amphetamine.

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When I was a student, we'd go to a doctor.

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She would prescribe us
two pills of amphetamine.

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I would have never passed maths...

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(Applause)

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Or I would have had to study much more.

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It's dangerous, 
because it may be addictive.

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In ADHD and narcolepsy, 
methylphenidate is used.

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It is known as Ritalin,

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which is now promoted for children.

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Take a look at this
marvellous powder with Ritalin.

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It may be an exaggeration, 
but it does improve the child's brain.

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Modafinil, more and more popular, 
is less addictive.

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It improves accuracy of performed tasks 


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and decision-making.

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Four years ago, the market for Modafinil

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reached 700 million dollars.

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Interestingly, 90% of the world production
is used for non-medical purposes.

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In the USA, it is good to have 
a younger sibling suffering from ADHD.

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You can pilfer their medicaments 
and pass your exams easily.

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(Applause)

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This is atomoxetine, a new medicament.

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It can be treated as a lifestyle.

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It becomes and more popular among people

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who are forced to hard brainwork.


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That's what students and teachers do.

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They take mainly methylphenidate.

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It looks differently 
in different countries.

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For example, you can see here

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how academic staff in the USA 
and Great Britain do it.

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An American takes it 
when he suffers from "jet lag,"

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An Englishwoman admits she takes it
once every two weeks

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to keep her spirits up

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and when she has to write
a grant application.

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Where do they get it from? The American
gets it from a family doctor.

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The Englishwoman buys it online, 
which is possible in Poland too.

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And they both claim 
it gives certain effects,

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which are not stunning, 
but very desirable.

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But there are neuroethic issues.

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Can we really do that?


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Some compare it to doping in sports.

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For me, that's really not the case.

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In sports we want to know 


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if somebody equally strong will win.

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But here, it's not about competing.

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If I want my students to learn
a new language faster,

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then why not let them take something 
that will let them achieve that?

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(Applause)

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It's worse with the exam sessions,
or competitive examination.

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Can we consider it as doping?

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This is really pretty.

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It says: "I'm confident 
you'll succeed at any job

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that requires no urine drug tests.

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Because if they run the tests,
those drugs will be revealed.

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I think we won't avoid 
using these medicaments.

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But we shouldn't overdo it, 
we should be reasonable.


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Thinking about future technologies, 
there's still a lot to do.

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There will be target gene therapies, 
magnetic stimulation through the skull.

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Interface between the brain 
and the computer.

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Implanted neurochips, 
hippocampus prosthesis.

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And new medicaments.

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I want to add what experts say about it.

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Nora Volkow, the head of NIDA, 
the drug-combating organization.

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She should be against it, but she claims
that if a drug can be created,

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one which has no side effects, 
then it shouldn't be banned.

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The human brain has come 
to the stage of evolution

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where it can improve
the evolution by itself.

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David Nutt, a controversial figure, 
was fired from the British Drug Council

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after he said that horse riding accidents
were 30 times as frequent as

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those after taking ecstasy.

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That's why he was given the sack.

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He claims that the discovery of these
boosters is a milestone in the evolution.

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We no longer have to rely 
on the random story about genes,

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This is my humble opinion.

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I think those pharmacological resources,
used to improve the mind,

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are disapproved of by dumb people 
whom nothing will help.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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Chemistry itself is not enough
for success, but it can help a lot.

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Thank you very much.


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(Applause)