Free Republic

Andrew started his college graduation day at 6 a.m. with a wakefulness agent called modafinil, sometimes known as Provigil—it was the first time he remembers nootropic brain drugs having such a startling effect. He was juggling family and celebrations along with two ceremonies, engineering in the morning and economics in the afternoon, with a band competition in between, which he won. For 22 waking hours he was happy, alert, firing on all cylinders, oblivious to any fatigue. “At that point, it was like, ‘Holy crap, this stuff can be very powerful,’ ” Andrew told the Observer. Now that he’s a...

All over the world, scientists are experimenting on soldiers to keep them awake beyond the limits of normal endurance. Researchers are engineering, and militaries are deploying, chemically enhanced troops. Of all the superpowers we’ve imagined, the one that has turned out to be most attainable—so attainable we’re already using it—is the ability to go without sleep. Much of this research, which focuses on a drug called modafinil, is openly sponsored and supervised by military agencies. The United States leads the pack, conducting experiments

Modafinil's effect on the brain suggests it could be addictive for some. A drug used to treat narcolepsy — and often taken to increase alertness and improve cognitive performance — may have the potential to become addictive, a small pilot study has shown. Brain-imaging studies performed on ten men before and after taking the drug, called modafinil (Provigil), showed that it boosts levels of a chemical called dopamine, which influences the brain's reward system1. Drugs of abuse, from tobacco to heroin, also impact dopamine levels, particularly in an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. In the new study,...

Laurie Coots, a marketing executive who flies to meetings in other countries twice a week, spent years trying to conquer sleepless nights and chronic jet lag. But nothing worked, she says, and every day was a struggle to stay awake. "It was debilitating," said Ms. Coots, 46, who is from Los Angeles. "I couldn't give an effective presentation because I was always shaky and nervous from being amped up on caffeine and stimulants." Then she found modafinil, a small white pill that revs up the central nervous system without the jitteriness of caffeine or the addiction and euphoria of amphetamines....