Surprising Benefits of Using Modafinil for Mental Performance

Modafinil significantly improved cognitive performance on tests of speed of memory and quality of episodic secondary memory in chemotherapy-treated breast cancer survivors. The improvements were consistent and sustained through Week 8 of treatment.

In addition, both active doses of modafinil attenuated disruptions in cognitive/psychomotor performance and subjective ratings of mood during the night shift condition. Moreover, both active doses increased ratings of alertness and decreased ratings of sleepiness.

Enhances Mental Focus

Modafinil 200 Australia is a wakefulness-promoting drug known for its mood-brightening and memory-enhancing effects along with its waking effect. These properties make it useful in a number of psychiatric conditions treated with stimulants including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS), myotonic dystrophy, shift work sleep disorder and jet lag [3,4].

Several studies have shown that Modafinil enhances cognitive performance in normal adults. However, this enhancement may vary depending on the task being performed and the study design. For example, some studies have found that modafinil significantly improves performance on a digit span test while other studies have failed to find any significant improvements with the medication (Randall et al, 2005a).

Other studies in humans and animals have also found that Modafinil can enhance working memory performance. For instance, one study showed that modafinil increases accuracy in a delayed nonmatching to position task in rats. The researchers also found that higher doses of Modafinil resulted in a greater increase in activity in the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that the drug enhances working memory by increasing dopamine signaling in this area.

Increases Concentration

In several studies, modafinil has been found to increase performance on a variety of cognitive tasks. For example, one study that had subjects perform simulated night shift work found that a 4-day regimen of modafinil 200 mg significantly reduced errors on the WCST and the Hayling Sentence Completion Task (which requires cognitive control) relative to placebo (Walsh et al, 2004).

Another study examined the effects of a single dose of modafinil on digit span, Tower of London, and visual recognition memory in healthy adults. The results found that modafinil improved the performance of all participants. The researchers also measured slowed latencies and increased accuracy in the modafinil group, which were both greater than in the placebo group.

However, these results were not replicated in other studies that compared modafinil to placebo. Additionally, a recent study that used an open-label trial of medication-free narcolepsy patients and titrated the dosage from 100 to 400 mg/day for 3 weeks found that modafinil significantly improved performance on a supplementary test of attention called the Pauli Test and decreased omission errors in a prefrontal dependent task – Stroop interference.

Improves Memory

In several animal and human studies, modafinil has been found to enhance cognition independent of its effects on promoting wakefulness in sleep-deprived samples. For example, pre-treatment with modafinil elicited dose- and delay-dependent enhancement of working memory performance on a sequential alternation task in mice, without affecting exploratory or anxiety-related activity (Beracochea et al, 2001).

A placebo-controlled fMRI study found that single Modalert 200 mg significantly enhanced the rate of spontaneous alternation between correct and incorrect responses in the delayed nonmatch to position task. These changes were correlated with left BA 46 neural activation, and were greatest in patients with the poorest baseline performance (Farrow et al, 2006).

However, one study of university students found no significant effect of single-dose modafinil on digit span, sustained attention, or arithmetic performance, despite finding a large improvement in errors made on WCST and interference on the Stroop task. This research group has reported similar results in other studies, suggesting that cognitive enhancement by modafinil may only occur for those with lower IQs and higher levels of prior stress.

Increases Alertness

Modafinil increases alertness in healthy individuals by enhancing wakefulness and reducing sleepiness. This effect is mediated in part by the modulation of brain alpha 1B-adrenoceptors, but also by effects on the glutamate system (e.g., facilitating release of glutamate onto medial PFC pyramidal cells and inhibiting the uptake of this neurotransmitter by these cells, an effect blocked by prazosin but not by yohimbine).

A 3-week treatment with modafinil 400 mg/day remediated the decrement in a-2 and b-1-3 power in the vigilance-controlled EEG (measured by low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography, LORETA) observed in placebo-treated patients with narcolepsy. This remediation was associated with increases in the a-2 and b-1-3 components of a frontal lobe region (Saletu et al, 2004).

In one study of sleep-deprived emergency department physicians, single-dose modafinil 200 mg improved performance on the Hayling sentence completion test and a version of the digit span task relative to placebo. This cognitive improvement was correlated with changes in the a- and b-components of the frontal lobe and anterior cingulate cortex as measured by 2D COSY 1H-NMR.

Reduces Fatigue

Unlike traditional psychostimulants, Modafinil does not induce excess locomotor activities or jitteriness and has fewer side effects. It is of high interest to the military for its alertness-enhancing effect and ability to reduce combat fatigue due to sleep deprivation or sleep disorders.

In a study of MS patients with chronic problematic fatigue, a combination of modafinil and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was found to improve fatigue and quality of life at 12 weeks, as well as the depression component of the CES-D scale. Modafinil significantly moderated the treatment interaction between baseline fatigue severity and CES-D score, but not fatigue intensity.

Another interesting finding from this study was that Modafinil increased working memory performance during a stressor, but not in a non-stressor condition. This may be related to decreased rsFC in the default mode network with Modafinil administration, but more research needs to be conducted to confirm this theory.