Pemoline and Methylphenidate: Interaction With Mood, Sleepiness, and Cognitive Performance During 64 Hours of Sleep Deprivation

Moderate doses of the stimulant drugs methylphenidate (10 mg every 6 hr, eight doses) or pemoline (37.5 mg every 12 hr, four doses) were tested for their ability to maintain performance in a variety of cognitive tasks during 64 hr without sleep. Drug administration began at 2200 on the first evening of sleep deprivation. Testing occurred approximately every 3 hr. Reductions in performance speed and accuracy were a function of both the amount of prior wakefulness and the hour of the day. The greatest changes occurred between midnight and 0600, especially on the second night of sleep loss. At the doses used, pemoline was more effective than methylphenidate in countering the effects of sleep loss and the circadian cycle. The pemoline group showed less sleepiness on both subjective and objective measures. Neither drug had an effect on moods as measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Pemoline significantly maintained performance speed above that of the placebo group on five of six tasks. The effect of p...

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