Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28525569›Full record

Trial reportThe international journal of neuropsychopharmacology2017

Comparative Effects of Methylphenidate, Modafinil, and MDMA on Response Inhibition Neural Networks in Healthy Subjects.

André Schmidt, Felix Müller, Patrick C Dolder, Yasmin Schmid, Davide Zanchi, Matthias E Liechti, Stefan Borgwardt

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Safety and cognitive pharmacodynamics following dose escalations with 3-methylmethcathinone (3-MMC): a first in human, designer drug study.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Trial
  5. Trial
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  10. Dissociable effects of LSD and MDMA on striato-cortical connectivity in healthy subjects.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
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  20. Cortico-Amygdala-Striatal Activation by Modafinil/Flecainide Combination.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

André SchmidtDepartment of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Basel and Department of Biomedicine and Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Felix MüllerDepartment of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Basel and Department of Biomedicine and Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Patrick C DolderDepartment of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Basel and Department of Biomedicine and Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Yasmin SchmidDepartment of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Basel and Department of Biomedicine and Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Davide ZanchiDepartment of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Basel and Department of Biomedicine and Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Matthias E LiechtiDepartment of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Basel and Department of Biomedicine and Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Stefan BorgwardtDepartment of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Basel and Department of Biomedicine and Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
University of Basel · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Psychostimulants such as methylphenidate and modafinil are increasingly used by healthy people for cognitive enhancement purposes, whereas the acute effect of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) on cognitive functioning in healthy subjects remains unclear. This study directly compared the acute effects of methylphenidate, modafinil, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine on the neural mechanisms underlying response inhibition in healthy subjects. Methods: Using a double-blind, within-subject, placebo-controlled, cross-over design, methylphenidate, modafinil, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine were administrated to 21 healthy subjects while performing a go/no-go event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging task to assess brain activation during motor response inhibition. Results: Relative to placebo, methylphenidate and modafinil but not 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine improved inhibitory performance. Methylphenidate significantly increased activation in the right middle frontal gyrus, middle/superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, presupplementary motor area, and anterior cingulate cortex compared with placebo. Methylphenidate also induced significantly higher activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and presupplementary motor area and relative to modafinil. Relative to placebo, modafinil significantly increased activation in the right middle frontal gyrus and superior/inferior parietal lobule, while 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine significantly increased activation in the right middle/inferior frontal gyrus and superior parietal lobule. Conclusions: Direct comparison of methylphenidate, modafinil, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine revealed broad recruitment of fronto-parietal regions but specific effects of methylphenidate on middle/superior temporal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, and presupplementary motor area activation, suggesting dissociable modulations of response inhibition networks and potentially the superiority of methylphenidate in the enhancement of cognitive performance in healthy subjects.

Indexed as

Brain MappingInhibition, PsychologicalBenzhydryl CompoundsBrainCentral Nervous System StimulantsCognitionCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodEmotionsFemaleHallucinogensHealthy VolunteersHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleBenzhydryl CompoundsCentral Nervous System StimulantsHallucinogensMethylphenidateModafinilN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamineOxygencognitive controlfMRIMDMAmethylphenidatemodafinilresponse inhibition

Identifiers

PMID28525569
PMCPMC5581485
OpenAlexW2616851118

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.