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.
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: Alison R Yung; Hok Pan Yuen; Patrick D McGorry; Lisa J Phillips; Daniel Kelly; Margaret Dell'Olio; Shona M Francey; Elizabeth M Cosgrave; Eoin Killackey; Carrie Stanford; Katherine Godfrey; Joe Buckby Journal: Aust N Z J Psychiatry Date: 2005 Nov-Dec Impact factor: 5.744
Authors: Patrick D McGorry; Barnaby Nelson; G Paul Amminger; Andreas Bechdolf; Shona M Francey; Gregor Berger; Anita Riecher-Rössler; Joachim Klosterkötter; Stephan Ruhrmann; Frauke Schultze-Lutter; Merete Nordentoft; Ian Hickie; Philip McGuire; Michael Berk; Eric Y H Chen; Matcheri S Keshavan; Alison R Yung Journal: J Clin Psychiatry Date: 2009-06-30 Impact factor: 4.384
Authors: M Hvoslef-Eide; A C Mar; S R O Nilsson; J Alsiö; C J Heath; L M Saksida; T W Robbins; T J Bussey Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2015-07-24 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Sanna K Janhunen; Heta Svärd; John Talpos; Gaurav Kumar; Thomas Steckler; Niels Plath; Linda Lerdrup; Trine Ruby; Marie Haman; Roger Wyler; Theresa M Ballard Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2015-06-14 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Hsun-Hua Chou; Jo A Talledo; Sarah N Lamb; Wesley K Thompson; Neal R Swerdlow Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2013-01-12 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Javier Ortiz-Orendain; Sergio A Covarrubias-Castillo; Alan Omar Vazquez-Alvarez; Santiago Castiello-de Obeso; Gustavo E Arias Quiñones; Maya Seegers; Luis Enrique Colunga-Lozano Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2019-12-12
Authors: L Scoriels; R M Salek; E Goodby; D Grainger; A M Dean; J A West; J L Griffin; J Suckling; P J Nathan; B R Lennox; G K Murray; E T Bullmore; P B Jones Journal: Transl Psychiatry Date: 2015-03-31 Impact factor: 6.222
Authors: Barbara J Sahakian; Annette B Bruhl; Jennifer Cook; Clare Killikelly; George Savulich; Thomas Piercy; Sepehr Hafizi; Jesus Perez; Emilio Fernandez-Egea; John Suckling; Peter B Jones Journal: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci Date: 2015-09-19 Impact factor: 6.237
Authors: Yasemin Karabacak; Sunetra Sase; Yogesh D Aher; Ajinkya Sase; Sivaprakasam R Saroja; Ana Cicvaric; Harald Höger; Michael Berger; Vasiliy Bakulev; Harald H Sitte; Johann Leban; Francisco J Monje; Gert Lubec Journal: Front Behav Neurosci Date: 2015-08-19 Impact factor: 3.558