Reaching Your Cognitive Best? Here’s Why Modafinil Might Help

How Modafinil Helped Me Reach Mental Peak Performance – A Personal Look at Its Effects and Benefits

Modafinil is used off-label to enhance cognitive performance and productivity. Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash

Modafinil belongs to the class of substances known as nootropics. It is a wakefulness-promoting agent whose precise mechanism of action is unclear. Modafinil is assumed to primarily inhibit the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine thereby increasing extracellular levels particularly in fronto-striatal networks. In addition, modafinil is believed to exert secondary effects on several neurotransmitters, including serotonin, glutamate, GABA, etc.

Modafinil is commonly prescribed to treat conditions such as narcolepsy (excessive sleepiness during the daytime), sleep apnea (cessation of breathing while asleep or having almost no airflow), and shift work sleeping disorder. It is clear that modafinil effectively enhances cognitive ability within the domain of attention and cognitive control in healthy adult volunteers.

Nootropics (modafinil) are known as “smart drugs” or “cognitive enhancers,” because they may improve cognitive function, including aspects such as memory, creativity, and motivation.

The usage of modafinil has been praised by people like Dave Asprey, an American entrepreneur, author, and biohacker. He started taking it while getting his MBA at Wharton. During that period, he was also working at a start-up that later sold for $600 million in value, so he was very busy, and he needed his brain running effectively. Here are his impressions on modafinil:

“When I first started taking modafinil, I felt more like myself than I had in years. It gave me energy and changed my life. I would not be the biohacker I am today without modafinil.” — Dave Asprey

I have sometimes used modafinil during business presentations as well as creative tasks like brainstorming, or writing. When something demands a significant cognitive output, I like to take modafinil beforehand, listen to ambient music, and work on the task at hand. I also make sure that during that period, I have no distractions from what I am focused on.

In such conditions I can easily get myself into the state of flow and work for several hours in a row without a break. I can maintain flow state even if the nature of the tasks at hand would otherwise feel as boring or uninspiring.

Modafinil usually comes in 200mg tablets, and the recommended daily dosage is 100–200mg. I have used 100mg, and I have started noticing its effect in terms of increased alertness and focus after about 15 minutes of consumption, which lasted up to 6+ hours.

Besides significantly better alertness and focus, I also noticed improvement in mood in terms of being more sociable and friendly towards others and generally being more positive. The day is simply nicer, and I function and feel better. Also, while walking along the streets, I noticed that I am more in the moment and have enhanced perception.

The reason for the better mood on modafinil could lie in its effect on enhancing dopamine release, but binding to dopamine receptors differently than addictive substances like cocaine and amphetamines do, which may be part of the reason modafinil shares many of the benefits of other stimulants but doesn’t cause addiction or withdrawal symptoms.

One may wonder why not to drink coffee instead modafinil? The paper from 2006 compared 200mg of modafinil vs. 200mg of caffeine (1 tablet of modafinil vs. approx. 2 cups of coffee) and concluded that they were equally effective for the maintenance of alertness in healthy subjects during sustained wakefulness.

However, my subjective impression is that modafinil is significantly better than coffee, for the reason that it lasts longer, and gives you more positivity and better mood.

Modafinil is generally well-tolerated, but like any medication, it can cause side effects like headache, insomnia, and anxiety, although I didn’t notice any of them. Due to its promotion of wakefulness and long action, I have always taken it during the daytime in order to prevent potential sleep problems.

MY RATING: 5/5

SIDE EFFECTS: None in my experience.

COMMON OPPORTUNITIES FOR USE: Any mental activity that requires a significant cognitive output, as well as social activities like important conversations, public speaking and business meetings.