STUDY OBJECTIVES To assess the effect of 200 mg of modafinil compared to placebo on alertness, neurobehavioral performance, and executive function during 4 consecutive simulated night shifts. DESIGN Double-blind, randomized, parallel groups. SETTING Sleep research facility. PARTICIPANTS 32 male and female volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 years. INTERVENTIONS 200 mg of modafinil ...

Modafinil, is a wake-promoting drug approved by Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) for narcolepsy and sleep-apnoe syndrome. Although the mechanism underlying its arousal action remains elusive, it is known to increase glutamatergic, histaminergic, noradrenergic and dopaminergic transmission and decrease GABA release in different regions of the brain, which are all known to be involved in patho...

Here we tested in rats effects of the procognitive drugs modafinil and methylphenidate on post-acquisition performance in an object-location paired-associates learning (PAL) task. Modafinil (32; 64 mg/kg) was without effect, while higher (9 mg/kg) but not lower (4.5 mg/kg) doses of methylphenidate impaired PAL performance. Likewise, higher but not lower doses of amphetamine (0.4; 0.8 mg/kg) and...

Modafinil, a novel stimulant which has several remarkable features that distinguish it from other stimulants, has been developed by Lafon, a French pharmaceutical company. Unlike the amphetamines, for example, modafinil is reported to have minimal peripheral side effects at therapeutic doses. It also appears to have a low abuse potential, does not interfere with normal sleep, and does not seem ...

Modafinil (Provigil, Modiodal), an antinarcoleptic and mood-enhancing drug, is shown here to sharpen thalamocortical activity and to increase electrical coupling between cortical interneurons and between nerve cells in the inferior olivary nucleus. After irreversible pharmacological block of connexin permeability (i.e., by using either 18beta-glycyrrhetinic derivatives or mefloquine), modafinil...

OBJECTIVE Our aim was to investigate and compare the neuromodulatory effects of bromazepam (6 mg) and modafinil (200 mg) during a sensorimotor task analyzing the changes produced in the absolute alpha power. METHOD The sample was composed of 15 healthy individuals exposed to three experimental conditions: placebo, modafinil and bromazepam. EEG data were recorded before, during and after the e...

The role of dopamine in sleep regulation and in mediating the effects of wake-promoting therapeutics is controversial. In this study, polygraphic recordings and caudate microdialysate dopamine measurements in narcoleptic dogs revealed that the wake-promoting antinarcoleptic compounds modafinil and amphetamine increase extracellular dopamine in a hypocretin receptor 2-independent manner. In mice...

The novel wake-promoting agent modafinil has been in use for the treatment of several sleep disorders for a few years and is now undergoing clinical trials for its use in the treatment of stimulant addiction, but its primary mechanism of action remains elusive. Previous laboratory studies have shown that modafinil has antioxidative and neuroprotective effects, which have not previously been sug...

Objective: Current pharmacologic treatments for a depressive episode in unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar depression are limited by low rates of remission. Residual symptoms include a persistent low mood and neurovegetative symptoms such as fatigue. The objective of this study was to examine the efficacy and tolerability of augmentation of first-line therapies with the novel ...

A simple, selective, precise and stability-indicating high-performance thin layer chromatographic method for analysis of Modafinil, both as the bulk drug and in a tablet formulation has been developed and validated. Aluminum foil TLC plates precoated with silica gel 60F 254 were used as stationary phase ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol in the volume ratio of (7:2:1 v/v) respectively as mobil...