A new class of drug may increase alertness without any of the jitteriness of over-stimulation.

A compound dubbed CX717, a member of the new class called ampakines, significantly improved performance on tests of memory, attention, alertness, reaction time and problem solving in healthy men deprived of sleep.

Ampakines work by binding to AMPA-type glutamate receptors in the brain. This boosts the activity of glutamate, a neurotransmitter, and makes it easier to encode memory and learn. And because of their short half-life – hours in this case – ampakines have few side effects.