# Adderall and cognitive functions



## prsvrnc (Oct 15, 2011)

Does anyone have any experience with Adderall (or similar sorts of drugs) and have thoughts with respect to how it may or may not have affected your cognitive functions while on it?
I'm not expecting someone's dominant function to change or anything, but was curious if, for example, there might be the development of a new sort of perception. 
Cases where I wonder if something like this might be most evident (if at all) would be when the drug makes one feel consistently more introverted or more extroverted in orientation, for example, compared to not being on the drug. -- might an Ne-dominant who felt drawn to more "introverted" sorts of things while on the drug develop something like "Ni"???

If you feel comfortable sharing, mentioning whether your prescribed for AD/HD or for recreation might be interesting to know.
I have some ideas but I think I'll wait to see if anyone else responds?


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## Owfin (Oct 15, 2011)

Ello', a Si dominant on concerta here for ADD! I find that I do not change my preferred dominant function, but simply piss myself and others off less. I'm one of those people you never hear about whose quality of life has actually been enhanced by ADD medication.


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## Inguz (Mar 10, 2012)

ADD here as well, and my medication doesn't change my functions that I can tell. It's still very much me.

What is the idea you have in mind though? I'm curious.


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## prsvrnc (Oct 15, 2011)

This was an insanely long rambly post. I did not intend this. 

@_Owfin_: YES, I agree with you!! Adderall has TOTALLY helped improve my life. (I feel much more 'normal' on it.) While it does help me focus, I can't say it slows my thoughts down at all. (I wish it did! oddly enough, I often find that I do my best academic work when I am kind of tired (especially when I wake up way too early, because at that time my thoughts feel very sluggish. Sounds weird but it is so true and then i'm like, 'huh, i wonder if this is what it's like not to be ADHD.' it's like all the "excess" drops away and i'm left with a nice slow prodding plot that follows consequtively. it's so nice. sometimes if i am 'in the flow' i feel this as well, but it never seems to be quite so consistent.)

In any case, on Adderall I feel like my thoughts are all "sharper." I seem to have the same amount of thoughts (if not more?) but I am able to follow what SEEMS like multiple tracks at the same time, without confusing each track with each other. prior to medication, just following one track was stressful.

@_Inguz_: Now that i've had more time to think about it, perhaps me starting this forum was impulsive and/or not well thought out. I was just contemplating on the extent to which I am actually able to recognize when it is I am using different cognitive functions (or if perhaps I have access to more than I think I do -- i.e., as a result of some sort of 'development.') /// As I mentioned above, my thoughts DO feel 'sharper' on medication, in a way that helps me follow conversations with people and 'be on the same wavelength'. 
With respect to cognitive functions, the 'sharpness' of my thoughts makes it FEEL as though the corresponding inner sensations that the thoughts bring (almost like their personal-nature, but perhaps that is my Fi talking). -- this makes me wonder if I have developed greater "Ni" capacity, since I feel more suited towards an intuitive yet subjective layout of the world. Not sure if I am making sense… it could all be Fi-related stuff (since I am an INFP) but yeah.

I feel like "myself" on Adderall, although I know friends (who do not have ADHD) who take the stuff and they seem to note large differences. One friend, who normally considers herself an extrovert, becomes more 'in her head' and reflective. she says she focuses more on the CONTENT of what people are saying (i.e., the literal ideas) rather than the emotional side of things. I actually want to say I know what she means… I feel as if my focusing ability has made it possible for me to take more seriously the ideas.. and i find i have little patience if the ideas are poor or if I find them illogical (or something). this could be my inferior Te acting up, but I also wondered if the medicine just sort of changed my focus to being more 'intellectual' than I would have otherwise been. I guess you are also an ISFP and maybe can relate to the inferior Te part.  I feel as if the Adderall has helped me "develop" or access my inferior Te more than I would have otherwise been able to. (in past, I just got sooo stressed out right when I had to organize anything (like a paper or something). being a perceiver definitely does not help with this!)


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## Persephone (Nov 14, 2009)

Adderall doesn't change my functions. Ni-Te is still Ni-Te. However, everything is clearer and smoother and I just seem to get things done and have better control over myself. I think something, I can get up and do it. That doesn't happen when I'm not on Adderall. But I don't see that as having anything to do with cognitive functions. Psychologists prefer to call them "executive functions".

Oh yeah. I have real ADHD... :bored:


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