question: How does Adderall help you focus?
comment: It increases the amounts of Dopamine and Norepinephrine in the brain by reducing the reuptake of those neurotransmitters between synapses. This has the effect of increasing overall activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which regulates executive functions that are often missing in those with focus issues. & #x200B; Put simply, it revs up the brain to be able to function as it needs to in order to maintain focus.
passages: BULLET::::- Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) modify the absorption of Adderall XR and Mydayis.
  
  BULLET::::- Zinc supplementation may reduce the minimum effective dose of amphetamine when it is used for the treatment of ADHD.
  
  Section::::Pharmacology.
  
  Section::::Pharmacology.:Mechanism of action.
   Section::::History, society, and culture.:Commercial formulation.
   Section::::Uses.
  
  Section::::Uses.:Medical.
  
  Adderall is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy (a sleep disorder).
  
  Section::::Uses.:Medical.:Available forms.
   Amphetamines are used by college and high-school students as a study and test-taking aid. Amphetamine increases energy levels, concentration, and motivation, allowing students to study for an extended period of time. These drugs are often acquired through ADHD prescriptions to students and peers, rather than illicitly produced drugs. Cocaine is also used to increase alertness.
  
  Eugeroics including Modafinil have recently gained popularity with the US Military.
  
  Section::::Behavioral ecology.
   Section::::Commercial performance.
   BULLET::::- Amphetamine systematic reviews and meta-analyses report that low-dose amphetamine improve cognitive functions (e.g., inhibitory control, episodic memory, working memory, and aspects of attention) in healthy people and in individuals with ADHD. A 2014 systematic review noted that low doses of amphetamine also improve memory consolidation, in turn leading to improved recall of information in non-ADHD youth. It also improves task saliency (motivation to perform a task) and performance on tedious tasks that required a high degree of effort.
   Amphetamine is a stimulant that has been found to improve both physical and cognitive performance. Amphetamine blocks the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine, which delays the onset of fatigue by increasing the amount of dopamine, despite the concurrent increase in norepinephrine, in the central nervous system. Amphetamine is a widely used substance among collegiate athletes for its performance enhancing qualities, as it can improve muscle strength, reaction time, acceleration, anaerobic exercise performance, power output at fixed levels of perceived exertion, and endurance.
  
  Methylphenidate has also been shown to increase exercise performance in time to fatigue and time trial studies.
  
  Section::::Manipulation.:Caffeine.
   Adderall is generally well-tolerated and effective in treating the symptoms of ADHD and narcolepsy. At therapeutic doses, Adderall causes emotional and cognitive effects such as euphoria, change in desire for sex, increased wakefulness, and improved cognitive control. At these doses, it induces physical effects such as a faster reaction time, fatigue resistance, and increased muscle strength. In contrast, much larger doses of Adderall can impair cognitive control, cause rapid muscle breakdown, or induce a psychosis (e.g., delusions and paranoia). The side effects of Adderall vary widely among individuals, but most commonly include insomnia, dry mouth, and loss of appetite. The risk of developing an addiction is insignificant when Adderall is used as prescribed at fairly low daily doses, such as those used for treating ADHD; however, the routine use of Adderall in larger daily doses poses a significant risk of addiction due to the pronounced reinforcing effects that are present at high doses. Recreational doses of Adderall are generally much larger than prescribed therapeutic doses, and carry a far greater risk of serious adverse effects.
   Section::::Music and lyrics.
   Section::::Critical reception.
   Danny Brown's album "XXX" contains many references to Adderall, such as the song "Adderall Admiral".
  
  Section::::Society and culture.:In film.
  
  Producer David O. Selznick, an amphetamine user, would often dictate long and rambling memos to his directors under the influence of amphetamine. The documentary "Shadowing The Third Man" relates that Selznick introduced "The Third Man" director Carol Reed to the use of amphetamine, which allowed Reed to bring the picture in below budget and on schedule by filming nearly 22 hours at a time.
   Methamphetamine was formerly in widespread use by truck drivers to combat symptoms of somnolence and to increase their concentration during driving, especially in the decades prior to the signing by former president Ronald Reagan of Executive Order 12564, which initiated mandatory random drug testing of all truck drivers and employees of other DOT-regulated industries.
  
  Up to a quarter of college students use Adderall to help them focus on their studies instead of its intended purpose of helping people with ADHD. This use sometimes continues after the student graduates college due to its addictive properties.
   Section::::Medications.:Stimulants.:Amphetamine.:Methamphetamine.
  
  The body metabolizes methamphetamine into amphetamine (in addition to less active metabolites). A quarter of methamphetamine will ultimately become amphetamine. After comparing only the common ground between dextroamphetamine and dextromethamphetamine, the latter is said to be the stronger stimulant.
  
  Section::::Medications.:Stimulants.:Methylphenidate.
   The slow and long-acting nonstimulant atomoxetine (Strattera), is primarily a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor and, to a lesser extent, a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. It may be more effective for those with predominantly inattentive concentration. It is sometimes prescribed in adults who do not get enough vigilant concentration response from mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall) or get too many side effects. It is also approved for ADHD by the US Food and Drug Administration.
   Section::::Uses.:Enhancing performance.
  
  Section::::Uses.:Enhancing performance.:Cognitive performance.
   BULLET::::- Instrument Society of America, past committee member
  
  BULLET::::- Biomedical Engineering Society, Alza Distinguished Lecturer (1975)
  
  BULLET::::- International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, past executive board member
  
  BULLET::::- Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  
  BULLET::::- Doctor of Science (honorary), Ohio State University (1976)
  
  BULLET::::- Arthur S. Iberall Distinguished Lecture Series on Life and the Sciences of Complexity at University of Connecticut at Storrs (2003–present)
  
  Section::::Publications.
   In the absence of amphetamine, will normally move monoamines (e.g., dopamine, histamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, etc.) from the intracellular fluid of a monoamine neuron into its synaptic vesicles, which store neurotransmitters for later release (via exocytosis) into the synaptic cleft. When amphetamine enters a neuron and interacts with VMAT2, the transporter reverses its direction of transport, thereby releasing stored monoamines inside synaptic vesicles back into the neuron's intracellular fluid. Meanwhile, when amphetamine activates , the receptor causes the neuron's cell membrane-bound monoamine transporters (i.e., the dopamine transporter, norepinephrine transporter, or serotonin transporter) to either stop transporting monoamines altogether (via transporter internalization) or transport monoamines out of the neuron; in other words, the reversed membrane transporter will push dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin out of the neuron's intracellular fluid and into the synaptic cleft. In summary, by interacting with both VMAT2 and TAAR1, amphetamine releases neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles (the effect from VMAT2) into the intracellular fluid where they subsequently exit the neuron through the membrane-bound, reversed monoamine transporters (the effect from TAAR1).
   Take Your Pills
  
  Take Your Pills is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Alison Klayman and produced by Motto Pictures and Netflix Studios which explores the positive and negative effects of Adderall along with the pressures to take these types of stimulants to stay ahead at work and school.
   In 2015, a systematic review and a meta-analysis of high quality clinical trials found that, when used at low (therapeutic) doses, amphetamine produces modest yet unambiguous improvements in cognition, including working memory, long-term episodic memory, inhibitory control, and some aspects of attention, in normal healthy adults; these cognition-enhancing effects of amphetamine are known to be partially mediated through the indirect activation of both dopamine receptor D and adrenoceptor α in the prefrontal cortex. A systematic review from 2014 found that low doses of amphetamine also improve memory consolidation, in turn leading to improved recall of information. Therapeutic doses of amphetamine also enhance cortical network efficiency, an effect which mediates improvements in working memory in all individuals. Amphetamine and other ADHD stimulants also improve task saliency (motivation to perform a task) and increase arousal (wakefulness), in turn promoting goal-directed behavior. Stimulants such as amphetamine can improve performance on difficult and boring tasks and are used by some students as a study and test-taking aid. Based upon studies of self-reported illicit stimulant use, of college students use diverted ADHD stimulants, which are primarily used for enhancement of academic performance rather than as recreational drugs. However, high amphetamine doses that are above the therapeutic range can interfere with working memory and other aspects of cognitive control.
   Section::::Chemistry.
   Amphetamine and its derivatives, prototype stimulants, are likewise available in immediate and long-acting formulations. Amphetamines act by multiple mechanisms including reuptake inhibition, displacement of transmitters from vesicles, reversal of uptake transporters and reversible MAO inhibition. Thus amphetamines actively increases the release of these neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. They may have a better side-effect profile than methylphenidate cardiovascularly and potentially better tolerated.
   Although ADHD has most often been treated with medication, medications do not cure ADHD. They are used solely to treat the symptoms associated with this disorder and the symptoms will come back once the medication stops.
  
  Section::::Treatment.:Medication.
  
  Stimulants are typically formulated in fast and slow-acting as well as short and long-acting formulations. The fast-acting amphetamine mixed salts (Adderall) and its derivatives, with short and long-acting formulations bind to the trace amine associated receptor and triggers the release of dopamine into the synaptic cleft. They may have a better cardiovascular disease profile than methylphenidate and potentially better tolerated.
   Section::::History, society, and culture.:Comparison to other formulations.
  
  Adderall is one of several formulations of pharmaceutical amphetamine, including singular or mixed enantiomers and as an enantiomer prodrug. The table below compares these medications (based on US approved forms):
  
  Section::::History, society, and culture.:History.
   Section::::Society and culture.:Doping agent.:Nootropic.
  
  Modafinil has been used non-medically as a "smart drug" by students, office workers, soldiers and transhumanists. As a 'smart drug' it allegedly increases mental focus and helps evade sleep, properties which attract students, professionals in the corporate and tech fields, air-force personnel, surgeons, truck drivers and call-center workers. A survey of 2000 students in the UK in 2014 found that one in five people had used Modafinil to stay awake and study. The drug is also used widely by students in India's academic institutions, where academic pressure and competition is often cited as a reason. 
   BULLET::::- Caffeine – ADHD is associated with increased caffeine consumption, and caffeine's stimulant effects on cognition may have some benefits for ADHD. Limited evidence suggests a small therapeutic effect that is markedly inferior to standard treatments like methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine while still producing similar or greater side effects.
  
  BULLET::::- Nicotine – The association between ADHD and nicotine intake is well known, and limited evidence suggests that nicotine may help improve some of the symptoms of ADHD, although the effect is generally small.
  