Use of Stimulants to Ameliorate the Effects of Sleep Loss During Sustained Performance

A variety of experimental approaches is presently under investigation to study the impact of stimulant drugs on anticipated decrements of performance due to sleep loss and sustained operations. The drugs have been used either in a preventive (maintenance) paradigm designed to maintain behavior over long periods of time or in a recovery paradigm designed to offset the effects of sleep deprivation and/or sustained performance. Several such studies are reviewed and their results evaluated. Questions concerning theoretical and practical applications are raised, and suggestions for future research are discussed.