Not Like a Cup of Joe
“It works in a very select area of the brain called the hypothalamus, which regulates among other things sleep and wakefulness,” Wyatt said. “And because it doesn’t work in widespread areas of the brain, it seems to have a much cleaner side-effect profile, not producing nervousness or tremulousness or shakiness that other stimulants can.”
There are some side effects, including headaches, nausea, infection, possible nervousness, anxiety and insomnia. But patients would see a limited number of those effects at one time, and they are actually less than the effects of caffeine.
Dodds thought that the pill would have effects similar to caffeine, but she was surprised.
Provigil – Wakefulness in Rats increased
We found that after a single icv injection of MOD (10mug/5mul) the extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) and l-DOPA collected from the nucleus accumbens were increased and decreased, respectively. Separately, the icv administration of MOD (10mug/5mul) to rats enhanced wakefulness (W) whereas diminished sleep during 4h.
Lastly, the alertness induced by MOD was partially antagonized by the sleep-inducing endocannabinoid anandamide (ANA). We conclude that MOD enhances the extracellular levels of DA, promotes W and its effects on sleep are partially blocked by ANA.