Smart policy: cognitive enhancement and the public interest

Abstract

Cognitive enhancement is the amplification or extension of core capacities of the mind through improvement or augmentation of internal or external information processing systems. Cognition refers to the processes an organism uses to organize information. These include acquiring (perception), selecting (attention), representing (understanding) and retaining (memory) information, and using this information to guide behaviour (reasoning and coordination of motor outputs). Interventions to improve cognitive function may be directed at any of these core faculties.