Life is full of decisions, and sometimes it’s difficult to know if you’re making the right one. But a drug that blocks the rush of noradrenaline through your body can boost your confidence, and may also lead to new treatments for schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder.
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To investigate [the neural underpinnings of metacognition], Tobias Hauser at University College London asked 40 people to take a drug that blocks dopamine or noradrenaline either before or after a placebo. Another 20 people received two doses of the placebo drug.
Eighty minutes after receiving the second drug, the subjects performed a task [that involved making a decision].
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The drug that reduced noradrenaline boosted metacognitive insight – it made volunteers more aware of their own performance, without affecting the accuracy of their decisions.
“This study is…the first to show that metacognition can be selectively enhanced by drugs in the absence of differences in task performance,” says Steve Fleming, at University College London…
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Blocking noradrenaline seems to allow people to better assess their confidence in an action. The drug, called propranolol, is currently used to treat high blood pressure, but it may also prove useful for treating psychiatric symptoms like some of those seen in OCD and schizophrenia.
[Read the full study here]
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