What are the Social Attitudes Toward Memory Loss?

1. What are the Social Attitudes Toward Memory Loss?

Pharmacology has gotten to the point that it is possible to design drugs that will improve cognitive functions, such as memory or attention. These drugs have been around now for several years in the form of therapies for Alzheimer’s disease or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. More recently, an ethical question has arisen.

Would it be ethical to prescribe medication that helps improve the memory of Alzheimer’s patients for students or professors? What about medication that improves attention? Would this create a divide between those who could afford to purchase such medication and those who could not? Discuss in your answer to these questions the potential advantages and disadvantages of allowing anyone access to such medications. 

2. Is Physiological Arousal Necessary for Emotion?

Provide your lived experience as evidence that it is OR is not. 

3. Watch a cool Ted Talk on a neuroscience topic. Provide the link in your post and write 3 short paragraphs that answer the following questions and reply to at least two other posts on this extra credit thread.

What was the general topic of the Ted Talk?

What was the most interesting thing you learned?

How can you apply the learning to your life?

Did any of the topic covers in the Ted Talk inspire you to be curious about the topic? If so, what?

• What are some of the unanswered questions you have about this topic?