Modafinil Prevents Inhibitory Avoidance Memory Deficit Induced by Sleep Deprivation in Rats

Study Objectives: Evaluation of modafinil effects on the inhibitory avoidance task (IA).Design: Rats were trained on a multiple trial IA task after receiving modafinil or vehicle injections. In experiment 1 they were trained with a weak protocol under baseline condition and in experiment 2, with a stronger protocol under sleep-deprivation condition.Results: In experiment 1 modafinil improved rats' acquisition whereas the retention test remained unaffected. In Experiment 2 modafinil did not interfere with training performance, but the lower dose prevented the retention impairment in sleep-deprived animals.Conclusions: Modafinil is able to improve acquisition in normal rats and reverse the long-term memory impairment induced by sleep-deprivation.