Behavioral effects of modafinil in marmoset monkeys

Abstract

Rationale: Modafinil is increasingly used in sleep disturbances in general and in neurodegenerative diseases and is recently being used in healthy people for attention control. However, the application of modafinil is possibly not only restricted to alertness enhancing effects. More insight in this compound may lead to new applications. Not all behavioral aspects have been studied sufficiently; therefore, more detailed investigations on modafinil's positive and aversive behavioral effects are addressed in this paper. Objectives: Determination of effects of modafinil in marmoset monkeys with observational methods and with behavioral tests measuring locomotor activity, hand-eye coordination, response to a threat situation and startle response. Materials and methods: Two hours after oral administration of modafinil in doses of 50, 100, 150, and 225 mg/kg, animals were observed and tested in the behavioral test systems. Results: Locomotor activity was increased after 100 mg/ kg modafinil in the Bungalow test and after 100, 150, and 225 mg/kg, as found in the movement parameters of the human threat test. Moreover, modafinil showed anxiolyticlike effects in the human threat test. No other side effects were observed, nor were the hand-eye coordination and startle response affected. Conclusions: Besides psychostimulation, modafinil has no aversive effects in the doses used in the domains measured. The potential anxiolyticlike effects of modafinil may create new possibilities for the therapeutic use of modafinil.

Interactions between modafinil and cocaine during the induction of conditioned place preference and locomotor sensitization in mice: Implications for addiction

“…Indeed, we could find few references where i.p. modafinil produced hyperactivity in a novel environment, as opposed to dishabituation of activity in a familiar environment [33,42,40,43]. This is in sharp contrast to cocaine, which readily elicits locomotor activity even at very low doses in a novel environment [44].…”

Modulatory Effects of Modafinil on Neural Circuits Regulating Emotion and Cognition

“…This is an important issue of clinical relevance as other cognitive enhancers such as amphetamine have been shown to have a pronounced effect on emotional behavior, including the generation of fear and anxiety (Angrist and Gershon, 1970; Ellinwood et al , 1973; Hall et al , 1988) along with exaggerated amygdala reactivity during the perceptual processing of angry and fearful facial expressions (Hariri et al , 2002). Data from animal studies have shown either no effects of modafinil on anxiety scales (Hermant et al , 1991; Simon et al , 1994) or an anxiolytic effect (van Vliet et al , 2006). Results from studies conducted on humans are less consistent; some studies show either an anxiolytic effect (Becker et al , 2004), or no effect on anxiety ratings (Saletu et al , 2007; Samuels et al , 2006), while others report an anxiogenic effect (Broughton et al , 1997; MacDonald et al , 2002; Schwartz et al , 2003; Taneja et al , 2007; Zifko et al , 2002).…”

Sex differences in tolerance to the locomotor depressant effects of lobeline in periadolescent rats

“…Thus, it is common for candidate pharmacotherapeutic drugs to induce hyperactivity or hypoactivity, presumably because these compounds engage and/or inhibit motor systems that functionally overlap with neural circuits that mediate motivated behavior (Bass et al 2002; Eaves et al 1985; Geter-Douglass et al 1997; Gyertyan and Saghy, 2004; Harrod et al 2001; Harrod et al 2003; Jarbe et al 2008; Le Foll et al 2008; Matsumoto et al 2008; Miller et al 2003; Simon et al 1995; van Vilet et al 2006; Vickers et al 2003). Such alterations in locomotor behavior are of interest to preclinical and clinical research because changes in locomotor activity may affect acceptability and compliance of a particular pharmacotherapy, and thus decrease the probability of successful treatment outcomes in individuals who exhibit SUD.…”