Viagra might soon have a new role treating pulmonary arterial hypertension. See "Viagra Shows Promise as Lung Therapy" in The New York Times.

How close are we to building a better brain? Cognitive enhancers may be here sooner than you think, says The Economist. "At least 40 potential cognitive enhancers are currently in clinical development, says Harry Tracy, publisher of NeuroInvestment, an industry newsletter based in Rye, New Hampshire. Some could reach the market within a few years."

Are beta blockers for violinists the musical equivalent of steroids for athletes? A music teacher has been fired for recommending beta blockers to her students. See "Better Playing through Chemistry?" in The New York Times.

What would Cyrano have said about "cosmetic neurology"? Cyrano is "ugly on the outside but beautiful on the inside," writes James Gorman. "Because of his appearance he cannot bring himself to declare his love for his cousin Roxanne, a great beauty and a fellow lover of wit and poetry. But he does find a way to convey his feelings to her. Roxanne falls for a young, handsome soldier, Christian, who, although she doesn't know it, does not have inner beauty to match his exterior. Cyrano, through some plot twists, ends up as his speechwriter, composing letters and declamations for him that are irresistibly passionate and witty." What would Cyrano have made of surgery to "improve cognition and mentation"? For that matter, what would he have made of George W. Bush's first debate performance against Kohn Kerry? Read more... And more...

The newest candidates for Botox? Teenage girls. Noelle Hancock reports on "Botox babies" in The New York Observer.

A jury has cleared a doctor sued by a patient to whom he administered Botox without informing her of his financial ties with Allergan, the drug's manufacturer. Read more in the New York Times.

"Suppose a drug could hand us happiness on a silver platter. That might seem wonderful, but it might blur or even obliterate the line between personality and medication. The pangs of conscience, the despondencies of failure, the reveries of grief, even personality itself might all become pathologies to be treated." So says Jonathan Rauch in The Public Interest.