--- title: Adderall May Not Make You Smarter, But It Makes You Think You Are description: Adderall, Ritalin and other "smart drugs" have become popular among college students and young professionals, who use them to enhance performance. 7143069 canonical: https://time.com/archive/7143069/adderall-may-not-make-you-smarter-but-it-makes-you-think-you-are/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-12-21T18:33:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T11:20:58.475Z article:section: Health og:title: Adderall May Not Make You Smarter, But It Makes You Think You Are og:description: Adderall, Ritalin and other "smart drugs" have become popular among college students and young professionals, who use them to enhance performance. 7143069 og:url: https://time.com/archive/7143069/adderall-may-not-make-you-smarter-but-it-makes-you-think-you-are/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397aa0b55105ca1d/698a94fd9d83e844deba0609/adderalcropped.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 307 og:image:height: 173 og:image:alt: Ten milligram tablets of the hyperactivity drug, Adderall, m og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Adderall May Not Make You Smarter, But It Makes You Think You Are twitter:description: Adderall, Ritalin and other "smart drugs" have become popular among college students and young professionals, who use them to enhance performance. 7143069 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397aa0b55105ca1d/698a94fd9d83e844deba0609/adderalcropped.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Adderall May Not Make You Smarter, But It Makes You Think You Are by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Dec 21, 2010 6:33 PM UTC  Ten milligram tablets of the hyperactivity drug, Adderall, made by Shire Plc, is shown in a Cambridge, Massachusetts pharmacy Thursday, January 19, 2006\. Shire Plc, the U.K.'s third-largest drugmaker, said it settled a patent-infringement lawsuit against Impax Laboratories Inc. over its best-selling drug, Adderall XR, used to treat hyperactivity. Photographer: JB Reed/Bloomberg News Ten milligram tablets of the hyperactivity drug, Adderall, made by Shire Plc, is shown in a Cambridge, Massachusetts pharmacy Thursday, January 19, 2006\. Shire Plc, the U.K.'s third-largest drugmaker, said it settled a patent-infringement lawsuit against Impax Laboratories Inc. over its best-selling drug, Adderall XR, used to treat hyperactivity. Photographer: JB Reed/Bloomberg NewsBloomberg News by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Dec 21, 2010 6:33 PM UTC Adderall, Ritalin and other “smart drugs” have become popular among college students and young professionals, who use them to enhance performance.more The drugs are normally prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but healthy students use them to get a leg up in school, by improving focus, concentration and memory. The question is, do they work? Maybe not, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania. Students who took Adderall didn’t actually perform better on tests of cognitive function — they only _thought_ they did. Casey Schwartz [blogged](http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-21/adderall-concentration-benefits-in-doubt-new-study/) about the findings on the Daily Beast: --- > “” --- It’s not surprising that Adderall gave students an inflated sense of productivity, Schwartz writes, given that the drug — a close cousin of amphetamine — “unleashes the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine, triggers the brain’s reward system, and can produce a mild sense of euphoria.” (**More on Time.com:** [Drug Surprise: Meth Makes You Feel Almost As Cuddly as Ecstasy](http://healthland.time.com/2010/12/20/drug-surprise-meth-makes-you-almost-as-cuddly-as-ecstasy/)) So whether or not the drug boosts performance on cognitive tests in the short-term, could it be possible that its “euphoric” effect simply makes studying more pleasurable, helping student achievement by ramping up enthusiasm for academics overall? (**More on Time.com:** [Clues to the Genetic Roots of ADHD](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/30/clues-to-the-genetic-roots-of-adhd/)) Schwartz points to a personal essay about performance enhancement by a recent college senior, Molly Young. [Writing](http://nplusonemag.com/kickstart-my-heart) for N+1, Young noted, “Of course, I could have studied in college without Adderall, just like I did in high school — I just couldn’t have studied with such ecstasy.” Then again, ecstasy doesn’t necessarily mean creativity, which is another marker of cognitive performance, and one that’s hard to pin down in a scientific study. “Though I could put more words to the page per hour on Adderall, I had a nagging suspicion that I was thinking with blinders on,” [wrote](http://www.slate.com/id/2118315/) Slate’s Joshua Foer in 2005\. (**More on Time.com:** [A Five-Minute Brain Scan Tracks Kids’ Development and May Spot Disorders](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/12/a-five-minute-brain-scan-tracks-kids-development-and-may-spot-disorders/)) **UPDATE:** It bears noting that the new study, which has not yet been published (it was presented at the annual Society of Neuroscience conference in November), is contradicted by a body of evidence showing actual cognitive benefits of the drug. Healthland’s Maia Szalavitz [reported](http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1869435,00.html#ixzz18mKq1fYQ): --- > “” --- Research suggests, however, that the drug doesn’t improve performance evenly. Many users receive no performance boost, as evidenced by the current University of Pennsylvania study as well as previous work. Szalavitz wrote: --- > “” --- Why it works for some and not others isn’t entirely clear, but _nota bene:_ don’t take Adderall or Ritalin without a doctor’s prescription, especially if you suffer from psychosis, mood disorders or high blood pressure. _This post has been updated to reflect the fact that past research suggests taking “smart drugs” may have a significant effect on performance._ **Related Links:** [ADHD: A Global Epidemic or Just a Bunch of Fidgety Kids?](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/22/adhd-a-global-epidemic-or-just-a-bunch-of-fidgety-kids/) [Training Your Brain to Learn Better (Even Without Drugs)](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/07/using-brains-to-study-better/) [They’re Baaaack! How to Avoid a Holiday Clash When the Kids Come Home From College](http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/16/kids-home-from-college/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7143069/adderall-may-not-make-you-smarter-but-it-makes-you-think-you-are/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7143069/adderall-may-not-make-you-smarter-but-it-makes-you-think-you-are/"},"headline":"Adderall May Not Make You Smarter, But It Makes You Think You Are","datePublished":"2010-12-21T18:33:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T11:20:58.475Z","description":"Adderall, Ritalin and other \"smart drugs\" have become popular among college students and young professionals, who use them to enhance performance. 7143069","url":"https://time.com/archive/7143069/adderall-may-not-make-you-smarter-but-it-makes-you-think-you-are/","keywords":["Brain","Drugs","ADHD"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397aa0b55105ca1d/698a94fd9d83e844deba0609/adderalcropped.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397aa0b55105ca1d/698a94fd9d83e844deba0609/adderalcropped.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ten milligram tablets of the hyperactivity drug, Adderall, m","caption":"Ten milligram tablets of the hyperactivity drug, Adderall, m","creditText":"Bloomberg News","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7143069/adderall-may-not-make-you-smarter-but-it-makes-you-think-you-are/","name":"Adderall May Not Make You Smarter, But It Makes You Think You Are"}}]}] ```