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Neurodoping: Brain Stimulation as a Performance-Enhancing Measure

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Abstract

Doping may be defined, broadly, as the use of unauthorised means to increase performance in sport. Doping is most commonly associated with the use of drugs. In this paper, I discuss the use of emerging techniques for the modulation of brain activity in healthy people using electric or magnetic fields, and suggest how they might be used to enhance physical and mental performance in sports. I will suggest that neurodoping may have different uses in different sports, and I argue that each sport must determine whether neurodoping should be considered as cheating, or should be considered a legitimate aid to training or performance.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme within the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the European Commission, under FETOpen grant number: 222079 (HIVE). I am grateful to Dr Martyn Bracewell and Mr Simon Tomlinson and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments. I declare no conflicts of interest in preparing this article.

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  1. School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2AS, UK

    Nick J. Davis

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Davis, N.J. Neurodoping: Brain Stimulation as a Performance-Enhancing Measure. Sports Med 43, 649–653 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-013-0027-z

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