DARPA develops stimulant to keep soldiers awake without side effects

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a stimulant without the side effects of conventional stimulants such as anxiety, irritability or euphoria.

The stimulants taken are activated by contact with certain types of light that are sent non-invasively through a device.

They target specific brain circuits “responsible for executive functions, working memory and decision-making, while avoiding unwanted effects,” DARPA explained.

DARPA’s Alert WARfighter Enablement (AWARE) program is developing a combination of a wearable device that emits near-infrared light and a photoswitchable stimulant.

The aim is to “demonstrate a need-based return from the waking state and to enable restful sleep”.

Photoswitchable drug

“To achieve the beneficial effects of stimulants on alertness without the undesirable effects of the stimulant on mood, restful sleep and mental health, a new approach is needed to enable targeted activation of the drug,” said AWARE’s program manager. Pedro Irazoqui explained.

“AWARE aims to achieve this goal by modifying currently approved prescription drugs to make them photoswitchable – that is, have the ability to change in response to light – and by developing portable light emitters to rapidly activate these drugs in a localized area.”

The program includes an ethical, legal and societal impact plan that discusses human use of the technology.