Adrafinil

Other names CRL-40028, The Legal Modafinil, Olmifon

Adrafinil

Adrafinil is metabolized into Modafinil in the body. Modafinil is a wakefulness-promoting drug and one of the most widely used cognitive enhancers in the world. People tend to use Adrafinil because in some countries it is legal, while Modafinil isn't. Does evidence suggest Adrafinil is just as safe and effective as Modafinil? Read on to find out what the science says about its risks and benefits.

This nootropic has no healthy human placebo-controlled studies that meet our inclusion criteria. Negative side effects can occur if used carelessly, so make sure you’re aware of the risks of Adrafinil.

Benefits

Read about the effects of Adrafinil in relation to the amount of evidence we've found

Adrafinil for enhanced energy levels, mood and cognitive functioning

No studies have examined the effects of Adrafinil in healthy humans.

Adrafinil has been studied in France for its potential efficacy in treating medical conditions characterized by vigilance deficits. None of these studies have been published online, but a scientific review of these studies has been published and is available online. [1]

Results from these french studies, including data from more than 750 (mostly elderly) people that received Adrafinil, show us the effects of Adrafinil on various aspects of mood and cognitive performance. [3]

In these studies, it was found that daily use of Adrafinil improved the following [4]:

  • Confusion, attention, concentration, power of recall, forgetting, vigilance, and fatigue
    • After 45 days and mostly present also after 90 days
  • Happiness, energy levels, sleepiness
    • After 3 months
  • Vigilance, perceptual acuity, and memory
    • After 90 days
  • Vigilance, attention, concentration and perceptual-motor skills
    • After 30 and 90 days
  • Cognitive and relational troubles
    • After 30 days and after 60 days
  • Depression, irritability, patience, sociability, interest in surroundings, and communicativeness
    • Some of these improved after 15 days, and some only improved after 30 and 60 days
  • Daily activities, attention, orientation, and memory
    • After unknown duration of Adrafinil use, but this was the largest study of all, with over 200 people receiving Adrafinil
  • Wakefulness and vigilance
    • After unknown duration of Adrafinil use
  • Vigilance, sleep, attention, concentration, visual masking, reaction time and "The most improved factor was immediate mental apprehension of information
    • After unknown duration of Adrafinil use
To summarize, Adrafinil has been found to improve measures related to energy levels in several studies, and mood and cognitive performance in some. None of these studies examined the effects of Adrafinil in healthy humans.

To see the doses most commonly used in these studies, go to the FAQ's section.

Keep in mind when you interpret these findings that Adrafinil resulted in these benefits in people with medical conditions and that the transferability of the findings to healthy humans is unclear. It is not known whether Adrafinil can enhance cognitive performance or energy levels in people without impairments, or if it only improves performance and energy levels in people with impaired baselines.

Cognitive and affective benefits have also been found in several animal studies [7][8], and one studies on the effects of Adrafinil on working memory in dogs found the drug had a negative effect. [9]

It is also important to note that the duration of use may be crucial to the effects of Adrafinil. Using it once and expecting cognitive enhancement effects or a caffeine-like energy boost may not be successful.

Adrafinil is a promising substance for increasing energy levels and cognitive performance, but it is currently unknown what its effects are in healthy humans.

Risks

The legality and side effects of Adrafinil

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Adrafinil

Studies

Studies conducted on the effects of Adrafinil in healthy humans

Last updated Saturday, June 10, 2023