Effects of modafinil on non-verbal cognition, task enjoyment and creative thinking in healthy volunteers

U Müller,J.B Rowe,T Rittman,C Lewis,T.W Robbins,B.J Sahakian

doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2012.07.009

U Müller, J.B Rowe + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2012.07.009

Copy DOI

Journal: Neuropharmacology	Publication Date: Jul 20, 2012
Citations: 137	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: University of Cambridge

Abstract

BackgroundModafinil, a putative cognitive enhancing drug, has previously been shown to improve performance of healthy volunteers as well as patients with attention deficit disorder and schizophrenia, mainly in tests of executive functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of modafinil on non-verbal cognitive functions in healthy volunteers, with a particular focus on variations of cognitive load, measures of motivational factors and the effects on creative problem-solving. MethodsA double-blind placebo-controlled parallel design study evaluated the effect of 200 mg of modafinil (N = 32) or placebo (N = 32) in non-sleep deprived healthy volunteers. Non-verbal tests of divergent and convergent thinking were used to measure creativity. A new measure of task motivation was used, together with more levels of difficulty on neuropsychological tests from the CANTAB battery. ResultsImprovements under modafinil were seen on spatial working memory, planning and decision making at the most difficult levels, as well as visual pattern recognition memory following delay. Subjective ratings of enjoyment of task performance were significantly greater under modafinil compared with placebo, but mood ratings overall were not affected. The effects of modafinil on creativity were inconsistent and did not reach statistical significance. ConclusionsModafinil reliably enhanced task enjoyment and performance on several cognitive tests of planning and working memory, but did not improve paired associates learning. The findings confirm that modafinil can enhance aspects of highly demanding cognitive performance in non-sleep deprived individuals.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Cognitive Enhancers’.

Highlights

Modafinil (Provigil, 1997) is a wake promoting agent of largely unknown mechanism with demonstrable efficacy in the treatment of daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy (Benerjee et al., 2004) and shift-work (Czeisler et al, 2005)
There was no significant differences between the number of high and low creativity subjects taking modafinil or placebo (p > 0.05)
The modafinil dose of the study was well tolerated without side effects or complications

Summary

Introduction

Modafinil (Provigil, 1997) is a wake promoting agent of largely unknown mechanism with demonstrable efficacy in the treatment of daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy (Benerjee et al., 2004) and shift-work (Czeisler et al, 2005). Repantis et al, 2010; Mohamed and Sahakian, 2012) and in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders (Turner et al, 2004; Turner, 2006; Minzenberg and Carter, 2008) These pro-cognitive effects of modafinil are of possible therapeutic importance given its low liability for abuse (Deroche-Gamonet et al, 2002), lower risk of adverse effects on the cardiovascular system (Makris et al, 2004; Jr et al, 2009) and lack of anxiogenic effects that may occur with typical stimulant drugs such as dexamphetamine (Simon et al., 1994). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of modafinil on non-verbal cognitive functions in healthy volunteers, with a particular focus on variations of cognitive load, measures of motivational factors and the effects on creative problem-solving

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion