Modafinil Has the Potential for Addiction

The Effects of Modafinil on Motivation and Salience of Pleasure in Healthy Individuals: Quantitative Evidence From the Cognitive Neurosciences

“…These reinforcement effects are known to be elicited by drugs of abuse (Koob and Volkow 2009), and are consistent with the finding that modafinil is acting in the reward centers of the brain ). This indicates that the use of modafinil is more likely to lead to recreational use, rather than increasing motivation for higher academic achievement (Mohamed 2012a). This is also consistent with early work by Baranski and colleagues (2004), who argued that the cognitive enhancing effects of modafinil are due to increased overconfidence.…”

“…Despite the high level of reported off-label use of modafinil as a putative cognitive enhancer (Mohamed and Sahakian 2012), the mechanisms by which modafinil modulates cognitive and affective processes in healthy non-sleep-deprived neurotypical individuals are currently unknown (Mohamed 2014a) and need to be thoroughly investigated (Mohamed 2012a;Mohamed 2012b;Mohamed 2014b;Mohamed 2014c).…”

Ethical Issues in Neuropsychopharmacotherapy: US Perspective

“…All of these properties make modafinil much less likely to cause addiction (Cahill 2005;Deroche-Gamonet et al 2002); however, addiction cannot be entirely excluded (Mohamed 2012;Mohamed and Sahakian 2012;Volkow et al 2009) even though no cases of modafinil addiction have been reported (Kim 2012) and psychiatric adverse events related to its use have been reported in only a few cases (Kanal et al 2012;Mariani and Hart 2005). The lower risk for addiction makes modafinil appealing and may contribute to its rise in popularity as a go-to enhancer.…”

Cognitive enhancement with methylphenidate and modafinil: conceptual advances and societal implications

“…30 Moreover, as modafinil is rarely associated with the rapid effects ("rushes"), euphoric effects ("highs"), or a subsequent decrease in mood and energy ("crashes") seen commonly with amphetamines, it is much less likely to cause addiction, though this cannot by excluded entirely. 31,32 The efficacy of CE drugs Many authors who are interested in direct brain intervention are happy to confidently assert that methylphenidate and modafinil are effective cognitive enhancers. [33][34][35][36] Even when authors do not explicitly state that stimulants improve cognition, they frequently appear to assume that they do.…”