TUESDAY, March 17, 2009 — Modafinil, a narcolepsy drug used illicitly by an increasing number of people to enhance mental performance, could be addictive, according to a small study of 10 people who underwent high-tech brain scans.
Modafinil is also prescribed to shift workers to help them stay awake and to people with fatigue due to sleep apnea, multiple sclerosis, or other conditions. It is sometimes used “off-label” to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although the Food and Drug Administration declined to approve the drug for ADHD due to concerns about potentially life-threatening skin reactions.
Nora D. Volkow, MD, of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Md., and her colleagues found that the drug, sold as Provigil, boosted the amount of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a “feel-good” chemical that drives the brain’s reward system. Drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, cause euphoria by sharply increasing levels of dopamine; the faster the increase, the more powerful the high.
While the effect of modafinil was much weaker than that of cocaine, or in fact of other stimulant drugs used to treat ADHD such as methylphenidate (Ritalin), it did affect the dopamine system, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. And it upped dopamine levels in a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens, a key element of the brain circuitry involved in feeling pleasure.
In addition, the therapeutic dose of modafinil is 200 mg, about 10 times the therapeutic dose of methylphenidate (20 mg), suggesting both drugs may have a similar effect on dopamine in the brain at therapeutic doses, according to the report. Modafinil had initially been thought to act on brain chemicals other than dopamine. So it was thought to be safer than stimulants used to treat ADHD, which are known to have the potential for abuse.
“All drugs of abuse have some type of effects on the dopamine system and so this type of finding would be consistent with a potential for abuse,” said Michael Minzenberg, MD, of the University of California at Davis, who studies brain neurochemistry but wasn’t involved in the current study. However, he added, this study in and of itself can’t prove or disprove that modafinil is indeed prone to abuse or addiction.
Next page: What the study found
Comments (5)
I wonder if schools would address memory enhancing techniques like mnemonics if youths would fall for drugs so easily …
I would like a list of natural remedies for A.D.H.D.i.e….. Supplements, foods to avoid and foods that would benefit.
Sincerley, Kim Cole
Wow. I ceases to amaze me that people still dont understand how addictive and harmful many of these drugs are. Of course they are ADDICTIVE!! Yet so many children are on them. What happens when all of these kids grow up? Will they be on meds the rest of their natural life. It appears so as now the big pharms are marketing these stimulants to adults as well. SCARY.
KIM COLE,
THE ONLY FOOODS THAT AGGREVATE ADHD IS RED DYES SUCH AS CHERRY KOOL-AID. ALSO MSG IS FOUND IN MANY SPICES WE COOK WITH. ALONG WITH VERY CONSISTANT STRUCTURED ENVIRONMENT. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOT CHANGE YOUR ROUTINE BECAUSE IT THROWS EVERYTHING OFF BALANCE AND YOU HAVE TO START OVER GETTING BACK YOUR STRUCTURED ROUTINE. YOU GET UP AT THE SAME TIME, HAVE BREAKFAST AT CERTAIN TIME, LUNCH AT NOON, ETC. STAY ON SCHEDUEL BEST YOU CAN AND YOU WILL FIND YOU CAN ACTUALL HAVE PEACE DURNG THE DAY WITHOUT CAOS.CAFFEEN WILL HELP CALM DOWN AN ADHD PERSON. MY DAUGHTER CAN DRINK CAPPICINO AND GO RIGHT OFF TO SLEEP. NO KIDDING. GOOD LUCK
KAREN
i think any drug can be addictive. It depends on the dose tho