Cognitive Enhancers in the Military

Neuropharmacology & the Military

It is hard to argue with the basic premise -- the U.S. military exists to promote, by means of force or by means of deterrence backed by the threat of force -- American interests. In military situations, winning is the most important thing, and all other factors are secondary. This has always been true of military endeavors, and that has not changed today. Given that, the U.S. military seeks to be the world's best military. It is the best-funded, and it is the largest. It is also the most technologically-advanced. Where on one side of the technology ledger, the U.S. military is looking at robotics as the next innovation in combat, it is also examining the role that neuropharmacology can provide with respect to its human members, especially combatants. The United States military has a keen interest in neuropharmacology and the effects that it can have on cognitive functions, fatigue, calmatives, rehabilitation and interrogation.

Cognitive Enhancement

Neuropharmacology is a branch of pharmacology that specifically examines drugs that effect neural pathways, altering how the brain functions. One class of neuropharmaceuticals are the cognitive enhancers. These have been developed to serve a number of different functions in civilian society, and many of these drugs have been adapted for military use as well. Stimulants used in civilian society for conditions like ADHD, such as methlphenidate and amphetamine impact cognition by increasing catecholamines in the prefrontal cortex and adjacent regions (Farah et al., 2012). Cognitive enhancers have been investigated by the U.S. military for improving the cognition of their soldiers, enhancing focus and clarity of thought. While some stimulants are effectively ruled out for military duty because of illegality (i.e. cocaine), others such as caffeine, amphetamines and modafinil have all been investigated for potential military uses. There are risks with most of these drugs related to overconsumption, including reaching a point of cognitive impairment, but studies have shown that many cognitive enhancers do improve cognition (Wood et al., 2014) In theory, performance in high-stress military operations, especially ones that last for very long periods of time when cognitive function might otherwise wane.

The nature of military tasks has driven this curiosity on the part of military researchers. Military tasks are often highly complex, and require intense concentration. This concentration may be required for prolonged periods, in excess of 24 hours, and during high stress situations such as combat. Such situations would, without cognitive enhancers, almost surely result in fatigue, which in turn effects cognition. By allowing soldiers to maintain their cognition at high levels, drugs would promote efficiency in their tasks, and allow them to retain a high level of concentration during complex tasks, even after extended periods without rest. Mood elevation can also occur with some stimulants, providing a short-term morale boost during especially challenging periods, should that be an issue for soldiers under duress. The combat benefits of improving cognition, concentration and suppressing the effects of fatigue are self-evident, and could result in significant competitive advantage in challenging situations (Giordano & Wurzman, 2011).

There are certainly ethical issues with respect to this research of cognitive enhancers. Normally, these drugs are used to treat conditions, and there are ethical issues at play in testing and using them on healthy individuals (Forlini, 2013). The military may view its duty, however, as being quite different from civilian applications. As noted in the introduction, the military has a somewhat unique position given the importance of its role in society and the reality that military conflict must be won, or there risks substantial and long-lasting negative consequences. This creates a mandate to, in effect, win at all costs. In this context, ethical parameters are somewhat looser than they might be for, say, an FDA new drug application.

It should be noted, however, that the results of the experiments done to this point show that results of cognitive enhancers on healthy individuals are mixed (Ilieva, Boland & Farah, 2012). The test was done on amphetamine salts, so only apply to that one class of enhancements, and in theory there is no shortage of anecdotal data available about cocaine and caffeine either. Other amphetamines, and other cognitive enhancers such as modafinil, have been subject to less research, but hold promise and have reportedly been investigated by a number of military agencies.

Other Military Applications for Neuropharmacology

Other applications for neuropharmacology have also been explored, being cognitive enhancement. One example is the use of calmatives on enemy troops. Calmative agents, if they can be applied to enemy troops, may cause them to experience degraded performance. Because of the logistics involved in using calmative agents on enemies, this has been less explored, but it is an old military trick, formerly conducted with things like women and alcohol. Modern applications would be significantly more sophisticated.

Another application would be the use of drugs to aid in interrogation. Drugs are just one of many tools in the arsenal of interrogators working in the military. One of the objectives of interrogation, obviously, is to extract complete and accurate information from a captive. The use of drugs can aid in this, by rendering the captive more open and honest in their responses, should they be made to ingest the drug. Barbiturates have been employed in this task in the past, and their use and those of other sedatives are being explored (Giordano & Wurzman, 2011).

A good soldier is typically the result of intensive training, and this training is costly. Stress, anxiety, PTSD and other issues have sidelined good soldiers who would otherwise be fit for duty. One of the emerging areas of the use of neuropharmacology in the military is with respect to rehabilitation. Not only is this valuable on a fundamental, human level, helping people with difficulties brought about by their time in active duty, but it can also be useful in getting good soldiers back into active service, where they can do their best work for their country. The military has a strong vested in interest in improving the use of drugs in rehabilitation for this reason in particular.