MOOD MEDICINE

How drugs change our behaviour. This week: The sleep disorder drug that may boost sex drive

A DRUG to treat narcolepsy, where people suddenly fall asleep at random times of the day, can have a surprising sideeffect: an increased sex drive.

Doctors from Nehru Hospital, India, writing in the journal Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience, say this ‘hypersexuality’ may be due to the drug — called modafinil — raising levels of the brain chemical dopamine and activating the reward system that’s involved in compulsion and addiction.

They report the case of a married man who wanted sex up to 12 times a day after taking the drug. Increased alertness, attention and improved memory are also listed as possible side-effects, all due to the effect of raised dopamine.