Neurochemical Modulation Cognitive Performance and Subjective Wellbeing In Healthy Controls
Condition: Cognitive Performance; Creativity; Motivation; Reward; Healthy Volunteers; Subjective Pleasure
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This project aims to investigate the effect of modafinil on motivation, creativity, cognitive
      performance, and subjective wellbeing in healthy participants. The main task for this
      research project is to address how this novel stimulant acutely influences motivation,
      divergent and convergent thinking, cognitive performance and subjective wellbeing in
      non-sleep deprived healthy young adults.This is a randomised between-subjects parallel group
      design study.

      Based on the hypothesis that psychostimulants might enhance creativity through the increase
      in of dopamine and executive planning in healthy adults , we predict that healthy individuals
      who are in the modafinil condition will perform better in the motivation, creativity, and the
      cognitive performance tasks. Furthermore, based on the evidence that modafinil increases
      dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, putamen and the caudate, we expect specific subjective
      well-being and pleasure enhancement associated with modafinil use in healthy young adults.
    

Detailed description: 
      Detailed Description:

      Sixty Four healthy participants will attend one session at the Wellcome Trust Clinical
      Research Facility (WTCRF) during which they will be tested on objective measures of divergent
      and convergent thinking tasks, a computerised neuropsychological battery including tasks of
      motivation, and on well validated questionnaires about subjective wellbeing and salience of
      pleasure. Participants will be randomly allocated to one group and will receive either one
      dose of modafinil (200mg) or a placebo prior to testing.

      Participants Sixty-four healthy volunteers will be identified via the City of Cambridge
      participant panel, and via local advertisements. Participants between the ages of 18-40 years
      will be chosen to avoid any effects of cognitive decline. The larger age range will be chosen
      to be representative of a wide range of ages and socio-economic statuses. A chartered
      psychologist will screen all volunteers.

      After participants are assessed by the team, they then will complete a baseline physiological
      measures (blood pressure and pulse) and the National Adult Reading Test (NART) which
      calculates pre-morbid IQ estimates and matches participants' level of verbal IQ. Participants
      will then be given a single oral dose (200 mg) of modafinil or placebo with a small glass of
      water. They will then be asked to rest in a quiet room. Two hours post-drug administration,
      participants will also complete the computerised neuropsychological battery including the
      motivational reinforcement cue task and the salience of pleasure task in the form of visual
      analogue scale (VAS) on a computer screen. The VAS will measure the subjective pleasure
      gained from completing the computerised tasks and in participating in the study. After the
      completion of the study, participants will be debriefed by the researcher and will be
      discharged by a research nurse.
    

Intervention name(s): Modafinil; Placebo
Intervention type(s): Drug; Drug
Intervention description(s): Modafinil (2-[(Diphenylmethyl) sulfinyl]acetamide (Provigil, 1997)) is a novel drug which has a demonstrable efficacy in the treatment of daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy (Benerjee et al., 2004). Studies on healthy volunteers show that modafinil improves neuropsychological task performance in some healthy individuals (Turner et al., 2004; Baranski et al., 2004; MÜller et al., 2004; Randall et al., 2005) and in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders (Minzenberg & Carter, 2008).
Other intervention name(s): Modafinil:; Drug: Placebo
Intervention MeSH terms: Modafinil
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Modafinil; Cognitive; Performance