Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Improving Warfighter Alertness Safely Without Off-Target Effects
https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2024-06-05#:Improving Warfighter Alertness Safely Without Off-Target Effects
DARPA’s AWARE program aims to rapidly achieve peak cognitive function following sleep loss through the combination of pharmaceuticals and light
OUTREACH@DARPA.MIL
6/5/2024
Active-duty conditions may lead to sleep loss, which can impair warfighter alertness and performance. Current state-of-the-art approaches for maintaining alertness following sleep deprivation include the use of drugs such as caffeine, and for U.S. military personnel undergoing long-duration training or missions, prescription stimulants, such as dextroamphetamine, may be prescribed. These stimulants have been shown to improve performance on vigilance tasks, alertness, and cognitive performance, but they can also negatively impact mood, have the potential for addiction, and may demonstrate a long circulation time in the bloodstream, which can negatively impact sleep. Over time, a cumulative lack of restorative sleep can adversely impact not only warfighter alertness and cognition, but also metabolic, immune, and mental health.
Combining light simulation and photo-pharmaceuticals — a category of drugs that are only active in the presence of certain types of light — to target specific brain circuits, DARPA’s Alert WARfighter Enablement (AWARE) program aims to safely stimulate brain function to improve alertness for a controlled time period. The AWARE program seeks to develop a combination drug and device to non-invasively increase alertness following sleep loss in humans, without negative side effects such as anxiety, irritability, or euphoria, and with reduced addictive potential.
AWARE combines photo-pharmacology with near infrared light to deliver therapy without side effects.
“To achieve the beneficial effects of stimulants on alertness without the undesirable effects of the stimulant on mood, restorative sleep, and mental health, a new approach is needed to enable targeted activation of the drug,” stated Dr. Pedro Irazoqui, AWARE program manager. “AWARE aims to achieve this goal by modifying currently approved prescription drugs to make them photoswitchable – to have the ability to change using light – and to develop wearable light emitters to rapidly activate those drugs in a localized area.”
[...]
Information is available on the upcoming AWARE Proposers Day on SAM.gov.
DARPA’s AWARE program aims to rapidly achieve peak cognitive function following sleep loss through the combination of pharmaceuticals and light
OUTREACH@DARPA.MIL
6/5/2024
Active-duty conditions may lead to sleep loss, which can impair warfighter alertness and performance. Current state-of-the-art approaches for maintaining alertness following sleep deprivation include the use of drugs such as caffeine, and for U.S. military personnel undergoing long-duration training or missions, prescription stimulants, such as dextroamphetamine, may be prescribed. These stimulants have been shown to improve performance on vigilance tasks, alertness, and cognitive performance, but they can also negatively impact mood, have the potential for addiction, and may demonstrate a long circulation time in the bloodstream, which can negatively impact sleep. Over time, a cumulative lack of restorative sleep can adversely impact not only warfighter alertness and cognition, but also metabolic, immune, and mental health.
Combining light simulation and photo-pharmaceuticals — a category of drugs that are only active in the presence of certain types of light — to target specific brain circuits, DARPA’s Alert WARfighter Enablement (AWARE) program aims to safely stimulate brain function to improve alertness for a controlled time period. The AWARE program seeks to develop a combination drug and device to non-invasively increase alertness following sleep loss in humans, without negative side effects such as anxiety, irritability, or euphoria, and with reduced addictive potential.
AWARE combines photo-pharmacology with near infrared light to deliver therapy without side effects.
“To achieve the beneficial effects of stimulants on alertness without the undesirable effects of the stimulant on mood, restorative sleep, and mental health, a new approach is needed to enable targeted activation of the drug,” stated Dr. Pedro Irazoqui, AWARE program manager. “AWARE aims to achieve this goal by modifying currently approved prescription drugs to make them photoswitchable – to have the ability to change using light – and to develop wearable light emitters to rapidly activate those drugs in a localized area.”
[...]
Information is available on the upcoming AWARE Proposers Day on SAM.gov.