Boosting the Human Brain: The Potential of Neuroenhancement for Health and Human Functioning

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Performance Enhancement & Health

Volume

13

Issue

4

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Publication Date

9-12-2025

First Page

1

Last Page

2

Abstract

The quest to boost brain function has been an ongoing pursuit of humankind. This includes a wide range of methods, from the ingestion of natural substances (such as herbs and herbal mixtures) to the use of electricity. For example, one of the earliest documented uses of “neurotechnology,” in the first century (49AD) involved the application of electricity from an electric ray—as a therapeutic tool by placing it on the skull to treat neuropsychiatric conditions (Sironi 2011). Over time, as humans gained more knowledge about how neurostimulation influences people’s behaviors, movements, and emotional states, they developed therapeutic and non-therapeutic applications, including boosting brain function, to improve human performance in various domains. Much of this work stems from functional studies wherein different geographic regions of the brain were stimulated to produce an observable, downstream effect. For example, Eduard Hitzig and Gustav Fritsch demonstrated that muscle contractions in dogs exhibit geographical specificity, as revealed through targeted cortical electrostimulation (Hagner 2012).

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