Effects of post-training modafinil administration in a discriminative avoidance task in mice.

Objective: Although the cognitive-enhancing abilities after modafinil have been demonstrated, its effects on memory consolidation remain overlooked. We investigated the effects of repeated modafinil administration on consolidation of a discriminative avoidance task.

Methods: Mice were trained in the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task.

Inhibitory effects of modafinil on emotional memory in mice.

Modafinil (MOD), a psychostimulant used to treat narcolepsy, excessive daytime sleepiness, and sleepiness due to obstructive sleep apnea, appears to promote a possible facilitatory effect on cognitive function. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the acute administration of MOD on the different steps of emotional memory formation and usage (acquisition, consolidation and retrieval) as well as the possible participation of the state-dependency phenomenon on the cognitive effects of this compound. Mice were acutely treated with 32, 64 or 128 mg/kg MOD before training or testing or immediately after training and were subjected to the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task.

Sleep deprivation impairs emotional memory retrieval in mice: influence of sex.

The deleterious effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation on memory processes are well documented. However, non-selective sleep deprivation occurs more commonly in modern society and thus represents a better translational model. We have recently reported that acute total sleep deprivation (TSD) for 6 h immediately before testing impaired performance of male mice in the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task (PM-DAT) and in the passive avoidance task (PAT).

Addictive potential of modafinil and cross-sensitization with cocaine: a pre-clinical study.

Repeated or even a single exposure to drugs of abuse can lead to persistent locomotor sensitization, which is the result of an abundance of neuroplastic changes occurring within the circuitry involved in motivational behavior and is thought to play a key role in certain aspects of drug addiction. There is substantial controversy about the addictive potential of modafinil, a wake-promoting drug used to treat narcolepsy that is increasingly being used as a cognitive enhancer and has been proposed as a pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence. Male mice were used to investigate the ability of modafinil to induce locomotor sensitization after repeated or single administration in mice.

Effects of sleep deprivation on memory in mice: role of state-dependent learning.

Study Objectives: A considerable amount of experimental evidence suggests that sleep plays a critical role in learning/memory processes. In addition to paradoxical sleep, slow wave sleep is also reported to be involved in the consolidation process of memories. Additionally, sleep deprivation can induce other behavioral modifications, such as emotionality and alternations in locomotor activity in rodents.