A review of its effects in schizophrenia suggests that modafinil facilitates cognitive functions , with pro-mnemonic effects and problem solving improvements .
The systematic review on the neurochemical modulation of the modafinil suggests that its mnemonic enhancing properties might be the result of glutamatergic and dopaminergic increased neuronal activation in the hippocampus and in the prefrontal cortex respectively .
Other neurotransmitters were also activated by modafinil in various limbic brain areas , suggesting that the drug acts on these brain regions to influence emotional responses .
Modafinil is a central nervous system wake promoting agent used for the treatment of excessive daytime sleeping .
Its vigilance promoting properties and low abuse potential has intrigued the scientific community and has led to use it as a cognitive enhancer , before its neural functions were understood .
Here , we review the effects of modafinil in human cognition and emotion and its specific actions on symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and whether these are consistently effective throughout the literature .
We also performed a systematic review on the effects of modafinil on neurotransmitter signalling in different areas of the brain in order to better underst and the neuromechanisms of its cognitive and emotional enhancing properties .
Modafinil-induced hippocampal activation in narcolepsy
This study was undertaken to investigate regional metabolic abnormalities and to determine the effects of modafinil in narcoleptics on cerebral glucose metabolism using [ (18)F ] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ( FDG PET ) .  Eight narcoleptic patients participated in the study . Two [ (18)F ] FDG PET scans were obtained before and after 2 weeks of modafinil treatment . To identify the effect of modafinil on regional cerebral abnormalities in narcoleptics , pre- and post-treatment PET scans were compared using paired t-statistics with voxel-wised manner . In narcolepsy patients , significant decreases in cerebral glucose metabolism were observed in the midbrain and upper pons , bilateral hypothalamus , posterior thalamus , hippocampus and right parahippocampus as compared with healthy subjects . After treatment , a significant increase in glucose metabolism in the left hippocampus was found in comparison with pre-treatment scan . This study demonstrated that modafinil activates the hippocampus which receives the afferents from hypothalamus , the center of sleep-wake rhythm
A review of its effects in schizophrenia suggests that modafinil facilitates cognitive functions , with pro-mnemonic effects and problem solving improvements .
The systematic review on the neurochemical modulation of the modafinil suggests that its mnemonic enhancing properties might be the result of glutamatergic and dopaminergic increased neuronal activation in the hippocampus and in the prefrontal cortex respectively .
Other neurotransmitters were also activated by modafinil in various limbic brain areas , suggesting that the drug acts on these brain regions to influence emotional responses .
Modafinil is a central nervous system wake promoting agent used for the treatment of excessive daytime sleeping .
Its vigilance promoting properties and low abuse potential has intrigued the scientific community and has led to use it as a cognitive enhancer , before its neural functions were understood .
Here , we review the effects of modafinil in human cognition and emotion and its specific actions on symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and whether these are consistently effective throughout the literature .
We also performed a systematic review on the effects of modafinil on neurotransmitter signalling in different areas of the brain in order to better underst and the neuromechanisms of its cognitive and emotional enhancing properties .