Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33645313›Full record

Trial reportJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2021

Stimulating meditation: a pre-registered randomised controlled experiment combining a single dose of the cognitive enhancer, modafinil, with brief mindfulness training.

Emily M Thomas, Tom P Freeman, Patrick Poplutz, Kane Howden, Chandni Hindocha, Michael Bloomfield, Sunjeev K Kamboj

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

Trial report in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 38% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
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.

Emily M ThomasClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK.
Tom P FreemanClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK.
Patrick PoplutzClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK.
Kane HowdenClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK.
Chandni HindochaClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1692-7401
Michael BloomfieldClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1972-4610
Sunjeev K KambojClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2197-0826
University College London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMindfulness-meditation has a variety of benefits on well-being. However, individuals with primary attentional impairments (e.g. attention deficit disorder) or attentional symptoms secondary to anxiety, depression or addiction, may be less likely to benefit, and require additional mindfulness-augmenting strategies.

aimsTo determine whether a single dose of the cognitive enhancer, modafinil, acutely increases subjective and behavioural indices of mindfulness, and augments brief mindfulness training.

methodsA randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2 (drug: placebo, modafinil) × 2 (strategy: mindfulness, relaxation control) experiment was conducted. Seventy-nine meditation-naïve participants were assigned to: placebo-relaxation, placebo-mindfulness, modafinil-relaxation or modafinil-mindfulness. Pre-drug, post-drug and post-strategy state mindfulness, affect and autonomic activity, along with post-strategy sustained attention and mind-wandering were assessed within a single lab session. After the session, participants were instructed to practice their assigned behavioural strategy daily for one week, with no further drug administration, after which, follow-up measures were taken.

resultsAs predicted, modafinil acutely increased state mindfulness and improved sustained attention. Differential acute strategy effects were found following mindfulness on autonomic activity but not state mindfulness. There were no strategy or drug effects on mind-wandering. However, exploratory analyses indicated that participants receiving modafinil engaged in more strategy practice across strategy conditions during follow-up.

conclusionsModafinil acutely mimicked the effects of brief mindfulness training on state mindfulness but did not enhance the effects of this training. Limitations of the current study, and recommendations for future research examining modafinil as an adjunct to mindfulness- (or relaxation-) based treatments are discussed.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAttentionAttention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityCombined Modality TherapyDouble-Blind MethodFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMeditationMindfulnessModafinilNootropic AgentsYoung AdultModafinilNootropic Agentsattentioncognitive enhancementMindfulnessmind wanderingmodafinil

Identifiers

PMID33645313
PMCPMC8278547
OpenAlexW3135429434

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.