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Effects of acute modafinil on cognition in trichotillomania

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Abstract

Rationale

Individuals with trichotillomania often report significant difficulty resisting the urges and drive to pull hair.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to examine whether modafinil improves motor inhibitory control, and other cognitive functions, in trichotillomania.

Methods

Eighteen subjects with trichotillomania (mean age 33.4 ± 12.8 years; 78% female) received a single dose of modafinil (200 mg) and placebo in a crossover double-blind design. Neurocognitive performance was assessed using the stop-signal, pattern recognition, rapid visual information processing and Tower of London tasks.

Results

No effects of modafinil on cognition approached statistical significance on the test measures examined (all p > 0.10).

Conclusions

These results suggest that modafinil may not be useful for targeting impulse dyscontrol in trichotillomania. However, it remains possible that relatively small effects of modafinil on cognition could exert larger downstream effects on overt behaviour. Further trials using modafinil and other pro-cognitive agents are warranted.

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Acknowledgments/Financial Disclosures

The authors wish to thank study participants and the staff at the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, Addenbrooke's Hospital, UK.

The Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute is funded jointly by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust. SRC and BJS consult for Cambridge Cognition. SRC consults for P1Vital.

Dr. Grant and has received research grants from NIMH, NIDA, National Center for Responsible Gaming and its affiliated Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders, Forest Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Grant receives yearly compensation from Springer Publishing for acting as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gambling Studies. Dr. Grant has performed grant reviews for NIH and the Ontario Gambling Association. Dr. Grant has received royalties from Oxford University Press, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Norton Press and McGraw Hill. Dr. Grant has received compensation as a consultant for law offices on issues related to impulse control disorders.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry & MRC/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neurosciences Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Samuel R. Chamberlain, Ulrich Müller & Barbara J. Sahakian

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Jon E. Grant

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany

    Anna Costa

Authors
  1. Samuel R. Chamberlain
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  2. Jon E. Grant
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  3. Anna Costa
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  4. Ulrich Müller
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  5. Barbara J. Sahakian
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samuel R. Chamberlain.

Additional information

Samuel R. Chamberlain and Jon E. Grant are joint first authors.

Ulrich Müller and Barbara J. Sahakian are joint senior authors.

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Chamberlain, S.R., Grant, J.E., Costa, A. et al. Effects of acute modafinil on cognition in trichotillomania. Psychopharmacology 212, 597–601 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-1981-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-1981-x

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