“Neuroenhancers are perfectly suited for the anxiety of white-collar competition in a floundering economy. And they have a synergistic relationship with our multiplying digital technologies: the more gadgets we own, the more distracted we become, and the more we need help in order to focus.”

So concludes a New Yorker piece this week on the increasing use of “neuroenhancers”—stimulant medications whose original, FDA-approved uses were for children and adults with clinical ADD. The author, Margaret Talbot, calls them “drugs that high-functioning, over-committed people take to become higher-functioning and more overcommitted.”

Other than reporting that at least one poker champion swears by a drug called Provigil, the article doesn’t discuss money issues in “the underground world of ‘neuroenhancing’ drugs.” But it stimulates attn:money to seek input and discussion on medications’ effects in the area of financial attention and organization. We know that some people who have trouble attending to their money management are those with a medical diagnosis of ADD. Do medications such as Adderal and Ritalin (whether physician or self-prescribed) help those adults stay organized with regard to money?

And what about the increasing number of people who don’t have ADD, but take neuroenhancers to overcome fatigue, stay focused, improve working memory, or (in the case of some of the drugs) addiction? Does it help them stay organized on daily, weekly, monthly responsibilities – or, as suggested, in the New Yorker article, is the enhanced ability to focus on a work task longer, and with less fatigue, bought at the price of less attention to the bigger picture?