CX717: Preventing sleep deprivation trauma

Intelligent Life 2006 | From A to Zzzzz

Introducing CX717, a drug being developed by Cortex Pharmaceuticals of Irvine, California. It’s the first of what promises to be many aimed at detaching people from the daily routine of eight hours each for work, rest and play.

Tests conducted on rhesus monkeys last year suggest that CX717 can wire users to remain awake for 36 hours without the jitters, euphoria and eventual crash that come after mega-doses of caffeine or amphetamines. Further down the line are even more radical compounds—stimulants that can wipe out sleep for several days at a stretch, and pills that deliver a whole night’s shut-eye in two hours.

More information about the ampakine CX717 can be found here. We previously mentioned the delay match-to-sample performance improvement of monkeys on CX717.

5 Responses to “CX717: Preventing sleep deprivation trauma”

  1. Dan Dright Says:

    That’s just unnatural and can’t be good for you.
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    So, um, where can I get some? :)

  2. Dan Dright Says:

    Intriguing. I linked back to you guys. You will now get the crushing traffic of the hordes that visit my site. *giggle*

  3. wholesomedick Says:

    before I was diagnosed with ADD, I used to stay up all night trying to get things done taking large amounts of caffeine (vivarin, coffee, soda, etc). The caffeine that took to stay up also (in retrospect) seemed to help me concentrate. Though I’ve always wondered if the added pressure of the sunrise had a major effect or more of an effect.

    It would be nice to try some of this to see how it worked in situations like that.

  4. Bayle Says:

    Dunno if I’d agree with the assertion in the article title that this drug is preventing “trauma”. What the study shows is that some ACUTE cognitive effects of sleep deprivation are prevented. But what about the long-term consequences of sleep deprivation? Perhaps these are even being made worse. See my comment on NeuroWiki:CX717.

  5. Kevin Swindle Says:

    CX-717 may potentially radically alter human life. Just think what we as individuals could accomplish if we only required 2 or 3 hours of sleep per night. Like it or not, technology, including drug technology, is going to produce a more efficient human. But will we have the wisdom to use such power wisely?

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