Modafinil for the treatment of cognitive and emotional impairments in first episode psychosis

Modafinil is a drug prescribed for narcolepsy and other sleeping disorders. It helps patients to keep alert and concentrated. Modafinil has recently been reported to enhance cognition. It has been associated with enhanced concentration, short-term memory, learning processes and mood.



Our Research team knows that clients in CAMEO may have some cognitive and emotional problems. They designed a study that tested the effects of a single dose of modafinil (200mg) on cognitive and emotional functions in CAMEO clients.

Forty CAMEO clients attended two sessions, separated by at least one week. They were given 200mg capsule of modafinil on one occasion and a capsule of placebo on the other. They waited for two hours after the capsule intake until the drug had its peak effect, and then performed a two-hour cognitive and emotional tests battery.


Participants were rewarded £80 for their participation in the study and had their travel expenses covered. The study was approved by the Cambridgeshire Ethical Committee.

Results showed that modafinil was able to improve cognitive function in CAMEO clients and this was observed particularly in memory in tests of working memory and attention in tests of inhibition control.

Modafinil was also able to improve the recognition of emotional faces, with no alteration of the subjective mood. However, it did not have any effect in the sensitivity to emotional valence.

These results are of great importance because symptoms are usually less stable and more tractable in first episode psychosis than they are in chronic schizophrenia, so the earlier they are targeted the best. This makes modafinil a potential candidate to remediate some of the symptoms seen in first episode psychosis.

For more information, please contact :

Linda Scoriels
University of Cambridge
Psychiatry Department
Box 189 Addenbrooke’s Hospital
Cambridge   CB2 2QQ
Tel : 01223336010
Fax : 01223336968
Email : ls387@cam.ac.uk

1 Effect of modafinil on fatigue, mood, and health-related quality of life in patients with narcolepsy,  Becker PM,  Schwartz JRL, Feldman NT, Hughes RJ Psychopharmacology (2004) 171:133–139 (Click here to Download Paper in PDF format)

2 Cognitive enhancing effects of modafinil in healthy volunteers Turner DC,  Robbins TW,  Clark L, AR Aron, Dowson J, Sahakian BJ, Psychopharmacology (2003) 165:260–269 (Click here to Download Paper in PDF format)