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Message: <blockquote data-quote="io.siriya" data-source="post: 19323516" data-attributes="member: 542301">Smart Drug' Modafinil Actually Works, Study ShowsThe "smart drug" modafinil actually does work for some people,  improving their performance on long and complex tasks, also enhancing  decision-making and planning skills, a new review of studies finds.      Modafinil, also known by its brand name Provigil, is approved by the  Food and Drug Administration to treat people with sleep disorders such  as narcolepsy. But the majority of the drug's users — such as students  who take it to study for exams — use it off-label, believing it may help  them focus. This is despite the lack of strong evidence to date showing  that the drug actually works this way.      "This is the first overview of modafinil's actions in  non-sleep-deprived individuals since 2008, and so we were able to  include a lot of recent data," Ruairidh McLennan Battleday, a co-author  of the new review and a lecturer at the University of Oxford in England,  said in a statement. The recent studies of the drug have used  more-complex tests of cognition than those employed previously, and  found that modafinil indeed enhances thinking, he said.                  In particular, the drug affects the "'higher-brain functions that rely  on contribution from multiple simple cognitive processes," Battleday  said.      The new findings raise ethical concerns about using modafinil,  particularly if it gives students an unfair advantage in preparing for  or taking tests, the researchers wrote in their review, published online  Thursday Aug. 20 in the <a href="http://www.journals.elsevier.com/european-neuropsychopharmacology/" target="_blank">journal Neuropsychopharmacology</a>.      Past studies showed <a href="http://www.livescience.com/48762-modafinil-drug-impaired-cognition.html" target="_blank">mixed results</a>  for modafinil's effects on healthy, non-sleep-deprived people. However,  for the new paper, the researchers reviewed 24 placebo-controlled  studies in healthy people that were published between 1990 and 2014. The  studies included more than 700 participants total, and tested a variety  of aspects of thinking, including <a href="http://www.livescience.com/22570-decisions-control-frontal-lobe.html" target="_blank">planning and decision-making</a>, flexibility, learning, memory, and creativity. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/35320-best-foods-brain-health.html" target="_blank">6 Foods That Are Good for Your Brain</a>]      Modafinil improved only certain features of cognition, the researchers  found. In general, the drug appeared to improve what researchers call  executive function, the ability to sift through new information and make  plans based on it. Modafinil also somewhat enhanced people's ability to  pay attention, learn and remember, the researchers found.      But the drug didn't consistently help participants on simple tests of  attention, the scientists found. It had "little effect on creativity and  motor excitability," they said, and it did not significantly improve  people's working memory, flexibility of thought or ability to divide  their attention.      <a href="http://www.livescience.com/45621-students-risk-brain-problems-from-smart-drugs.html" target="_blank">Modafinil</a>  has few side effects. The 70 percent of the studies that looked for  mood and side effects found only some instances of insomnia, headache,  stomachache or nausea, all of which were also reported in placebo  groups.      "In the face of vanishingly few side effects in these controlled  environments, modafinil can be considered a cognitive enhancer," said  Anna-Katharine Brem, another co-author of the study and a postdoctoral  researcher at Oxford.      "However, we would like to stress the point that with any method used to <a href="http://www.livescience.com/7950-music-improves-brain-function.html" target="_blank">enhance cognition</a>,  ethical considerations always have to be taken into account: This is an  important avenue for future work to explore," Brem said.<a href="http://www.livescience.com/51919-modafil-improves-attention-learning.html" target="_blank">http://www.livescience.com/51919-modafil-improves-attention-learning.html</a></blockquote>

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