Modafinil

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Abstract

Modafinil is a psychostimulant often used for treatment of sleep disorders such as narcolepsy. Although the exact mechanism of action of the drug is still unclear, several studies have suggested the involvement of dopamine and norepinephrine transporters. The cognitive-enhancing effects of Modafinil have been studied in both sleep-deprived and non-sleep-deprived individuals. Even if some findings were mixed, in general, results seem promising and Modafinil appears to enhance cognitive functions, especially attention and cognitive control. However, impairment of performance on certain tasks (such as creativity) and a detrimental overconfidence-effect have also been reported. In this chapter, we review if and under which conditions the administration of Modafinil might enhance cognition in both non-sleep-deprived and sleep-deprived healthy adults. In non-sleep-deprived adults, Modafinil appears to increase specifically attention and cognitive control and this effect seems to be more pronounced in challenging task conditions and in low performing individuals. In sleep-deprived adults, Modafinil seems to maintain and restore performance on cognitive tasks, but at the possible costs of subjective overconfidence. Although more research is necessary to completely understand the neurobiological underpinnings, Modafinil seems a promising tool for enhancing cognition considering its low abuse liability.

Keywords

Modafinil Adrafinil Eugeroic Dopamine Cognitive enhancer Cognition Memory Overconfidence-effect Sleep deprivation Maintenance studies Recuperation studies 
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Cognitive Psychology Unit and Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
  2. 2.Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of PsychologyRuhr University BochumBochumGermany

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