The drugs are normally prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but healthy students use them to get a leg up in school, by improving focus, concentration and memory.
Adrenaline, or epinephrine, is a hormone that dilates an individual's air passages and increases his heart rate when he is faced with a stressful situation. The hormone is secreted from the adrenal glands to help ensure survival under dangerous situations.
1 Adrenaline is an active substance that is produced in the body by the adrenal gland. 2  Administration of adrenaline mimics the effects of adrenaline produced in the body, it stimulates the heartbeat, makes the blood vessels narrower (and so raises blood pressure), and it also relaxes the lung muscles to ease breathing.