Effects of modafinil on attentional processes during 60 hours of sleep deprivation

Abstract

The present study investigates the eects of moda®nil (300 mg/24 h) versus a placebo on the performance of a visual search task during 60 h of sleep deprivation. Moda®nil was administrated in doses of 100 mg three times per day during sleep deprivation. Six healthy volunteers participated in a double-blind experiment including two experimental sessions of 7 days each. The experiment used the visual search paradigm for an`O' target among`Q' distractors and the reverse. The speed and accuracy in detecting the target were measured by RTs slopes (i.e. search rates) and the number of errors (i.e. error rates), respectively. Many authors attribute rapid search rates obtained for Q' targets (low RTs slopes) to parallel/automatic processes and slow search rates obtained for`O' targets (high RTs slope) to serial/attentional processes. The results revealed an asymmetrical search pattern for the detection of`Q' versus`O' targets across the sleep deprivation period (i.e. parallel versus serial search, respectively). Rapid search rates for`Q' targets remained unchanged between placebo and moda®nil conditions during sleep deprivation. However, slow search rates for`O' targets increased linearly in placebo condition, but remained at the same level as the control-test in moda®nil condition. Error rates and search rates also increased. For`O' and`Q' targets, the number of errors increased in the placebo condition, but remained stable in the moda®nil condition. In summary, we can conclude that the administration of moda®nil (300 mg/24 h) during sleep deprivation prevents the slowing of serial processes (attentional shifts) and the increasing of errors. #

Sleep Deprivation and Vigilant Attention

“…Modafinil is a wake‐promoting atypical stimulant drug prescribed for the treatment of narcolepsy and excessive daytime sleepiness. When taken after a period without sleep, modafinil reverses deficits in vigilant attention, 23,118,133–135 speed of processing, 136 executive attention, 102,118,137 and performance on operational tasks 138,139 . Modafinil attenuated the TOT effect on the PVT in subjects who had been sleep deprived for 54.5 h 23 .…”

“…Modafinil is a wake-promoting atypical stimulant drug prescribed for the treatment of narcolepsy and excessive daytime sleepiness. When taken after a period without sleep, modafinil reverses deficits in vigilant attention, 23,118,[133][134][135] speed of processing, 136 executive attention, 102,118,137 and performance on operational tasks. 138,139 Modafinil attenuated the TOT effect on the PVT in subjects who had been sleep deprived for 54.5 h. 23 In many of the experiments cited earlier, it has been noted that the beneficial effects of modafinil are dose-dependent, with 50-100 mg every 24 h producing no significantly greater effect than placebo, and 200-400 mg every 24 h maintaining vigilance near baseline levels.…”

The Downsides of Cognitive Enhancement

“…Consistent with this picture, about 90% of modafinil consumers are healthy people with no sleep disorders who are using the medication to increase their attentional focus under fatigue ( Baranski and others 2004 ). In sleep-deprived individuals, research has demonstrated that multiple small doses of modafinil over time or a single, large dose can successfully maintain cognitive performance and restore cognitive functioning to near-baseline levels ( Stivalet and others 1998 ). However, the enhancing effects come at the cost of subjective overconfidence: people evaluate their own cognitive performance to be better than their actual performance.…”