Effects of modafinil on cognitive functions in first episode psychosis.

Abstract

RATIONALE:

Cognitive impairments are important determinants of functional outcome in psychosis, which are inadequately treated by antipsychotic medication. Modafinil is a wake-promoting drug that has been shown to improve attention, memory and executive function in the healthy population and in patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES:

We aimed to establish modafinil's role in the adjunctive treatment of cognitive impairments in the first episode of psychosis, a time when symptoms may be more malleable than at chronic stages of the disease.

METHODS:

Forty patients with a first episode of psychosis participated in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design study assessing the effects of a single dose of 200 mg modafinil on measures of executive functioning, memory, learning, impulsivity and attention.

RESULTS:

Modafinil improved verbal working memory (d = 0.24, p = 0.04), spatial working memory errors (d = 0.30, p = 0.0004) and strategy use (d = 0.23, p = 0.03). It also reduced discrimination errors in a task testing impulsivity. Modafinil showed no effect on impulsivity measures, sustained attention, attentional set-shifting, learning or fluency.

CONCLUSIONS:

Modafinil selectively enhances working memory in first episode psychosis patients, which could have downstream effects on patients' social and occupational functioning.

• Authors: Linda Scoriels, Jennifer H Barnett, Praveen K Soma, Barbara J Sahakian, Peter B Jones
• Journal: Psychopharmacology (Psychopharmacology (Berl)) Vol. 220 Issue 2 Pg. 249-58 (Mar 2012) ISSN: 1432-2072 [Electronic] Germany
• PMID: 21909634 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Benzhydryl Compounds
• Central Nervous System Stimulants
• Modafinil

Topics

• Adult
• Attention (drug effects)
• Benzhydryl Compounds (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Central Nervous System Stimulants (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Cognition Disorders (complications, drug therapy)
• Double-Blind Method
• Early Medical Intervention (methods, statistics & numerical data)
• Executive Function (drug effects)
• Female
• Humans
• Impulsive Behavior (complications, drug therapy)
• Learning
• Male
• Memory (drug effects)
• Modafinil
• Neuropsychological Tests (statistics & numerical data)
• Psychotic Disorders (complications, drug therapy)