[1][2][3] They are similar to but distinct from psychostimulants, which not only promote wakefulness but also produce other more overt central nervous system effects, such as improved attention span, executive functions, vigilance and motivation.

[1][4] Wakefulness-promoting agents are used to treat narcolepsy and hypersomnia as well as to promote wakefulness and increase performance in healthy people.

[18] Certain other drugs are being studied as wakefulness-promoting agents as well, including GABAA receptor antagonists and negative allosteric modulators like clarithromycin, flumazenil, and pentylenetetrazol (pentetrazol), among others.

[5] It was introduced in 1987 in the French literature and has been used as an alternative term to refer to wakefulness-promoting drugs and to distinguish them from psychostimulants.

[5] However, the term has usually been used to refer specifically to modafinil and its analogues, even to the exclusion of other wakefulness-promoting agents.