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Completed Phase 2 Interventional Results available

Modafinil for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03424681

Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03424681. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.

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Official title

Modafinil for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders: Targeting Impaired Response Inhibition

Brief summary

Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and more treatments are needed, especially pharmacotherapies. There are a variety of efficacious treatments for AUD, but effect sizes are small, and vary from study to study. Medications may be more effective if particular subgroups of AUD are targeted. Identifying the mechanisms of action of a particular medication will help identify the subtypes more likely to respond to therapy. Global impulse control is a rational treatment target, and improving it is a likely mechanisms by which some medications for AUD work, especially in subtypes of AUD with impaired impulse control at baseline. Modafinil is a medication that is FDA approved for the treatment of narcolepsy, and is relatively safe and tolerable. There is reason to believe it may improve impulse control, and underlying neural circuitry, and may work best to improve alcohol use outcomes in AUD with poor impulse control. The overall aim of this study is to investigate the effects of modafinil on task performance and the integrity of neural circuits mediating response inhibition in treatment-seeking AUD with poor response inhibition, to establish target engagement. Secondary aims are to measure whether target engagement mediates improvement in alcohol use outcomes, and to utilize machine learning to identify neural and behavioral markers which best predict treatment outcomes. Twenty-four individuals with AUD and impaired response inhibition will be enrolled in the study, randomized to modafinil or placebo, and treated for 6 weeks. Functional magnetic resonance imaging brain scans during a response inhibition task and during rest will be obtained at baseline and 2 weeks. Aversive stimuli will be included in the response inhibition task to assure that efficacy generalizes to several conditions. Diffusion imaging and arterial spin labeling sequences will also be obtained. Investigators predict that modafinil will significantly increase brain activity in the medial and lateral prefrontal cortex during response inhibition, thereby establishing target engagement, and that it will improve alcohol use outcomes. Findings will provide information about whether or not a larger R01 trial investigating the efficacy of modafinil for individuals with AUD and impaired response inhibition is warranted.

Study identification

NCT ID
NCT03424681
Recruitment status
Completed
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 2
Lead sponsor
The Mind Research Network
Other
Enrollment
12 participants

Conditions and interventions

Interventions

Drug · Other

Eligibility (public fields only)

Age range
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
Healthy volunteers
Healthy volunteers not accepted

This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.

Study timeline

Start date
Dec 10, 2017
Primary completion
Aug 30, 2018
Completion
Aug 30, 2018
Last update posted
May 25, 2020

2017 – 2018

United States locations

U.S. sites
1
U.S. states
1
U.S. cities
1
Facility City State ZIP Site status
Mind Research Network Albuquerque New Mexico 87106

Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.

About this trial record page

What this page shows
Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03424681, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
What this page does not do
No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
Where the data comes from
Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
Last refresh
Last update posted May 25, 2020 · Synced Sep 5, 2026

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The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03424681 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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