Armodafinil in Treating Fatigue Caused By Radiation Therapy in Patients With Primary Brain Tumors

Inclusion Criteria * Histologically confirmed primary brain tumor, including any of the following: * Glioblastoma multiforme * Anaplastic astrocytoma * Anaplastic oligodendroglioma * Anaplastic mixed oligoastrocytoma * Low-grade glioma * Meningioma * Ependymoma * Other primary brain tumor histologies * Planning to undergo external-beam cranial radiotherapy (partial- or whole-brain radiotherapy) meeting all of the following criteria: * Total dose ≥ 4,500 cGy * Total number of fractions ≥ 25 fractions * Dose per fraction ≥ 150 cGy PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * Karnofsky performance status 60-100% * Hemoglobin ≥ 10.0 g/dL (erythropoietin or transfusion allowed for symptomatically anemic patients with a hemoglobin \< 10 g/dL) * Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL * Total bilirubin ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN) * SGOT and SGPT ≤ 3 times ULN * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * Sexually active women of childbearing potential must use a reliable method of birth control * It is recommended that patients use non-hormonal contraceptives, in addition to or in place of hormonal contraceptives, during and for one month following treatment with armodafinil * Prior malignancies allowed Exclusion Criteria: * No baseline headaches (i.e., headaches occurring in the week before baseline assessment) of grade 4 severity (defined as severe and disabling headaches, requiring analgesics, and interfering with and preventing function or activities of daily living) * No concurrent uncontrolled illness that may cause fatigue; interfere with drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, or excretion; or limit compliance with study requirements including, but not limited to, any of the following: * Ongoing or active infection * Chronic renal insufficiency * Psychiatric illness (psychosis, psychotic disorder, history of suicide attempt, or actively suicidal) * Extreme social situations (e.g., transportation issues that would preclude study compliance) * Patients with a history of cardiac issues (symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia) should not use armodafinil as it may cause chest pain, palpitations, dyspnea, and transient ischemic T-wave changes on ECG * No history of allergic reaction attributed to modafinil or armodafinil * No anticipated or planned excessive consumption of coffee, tea, and/or caffeine-containing beverages averaging \> 600 mg of caffeine/day (i.e., approximately 6 cups of coffee/day, 12 cups of hot tea/day, or 12 cans of cola/day) PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * See Disease Characteristics * No prior fractionated external-beam cranial radiotherapy * More than 30 days since prior monoamine oxidate inhibitors or investigational drugs * More than 2 weeks since prior and no concurrent modafinil (Provigil), donepezil (Aricept), memantine hydrochloride (Namenda), methylphenidate (Ritalin), dextroamphetamine-amphetamine (Adderall), ginkgo biloba, or any other cognitive function-enhancing drugs * At least 4 weeks since prior and no concurrent interstitial or intracavitary chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy or stereotactic radiosurgery (i.e., Gamma Knife, Linac, or Cyberknife) * No concurrent erythropoietin, transfusion, or iron therapy (unless patient is symptomatically anemic with hemoglobin \< 10 g/dL) * Concurrent chemotherapy allowed * Concurrent hormonal therapy for other malignancies allowed * No concurrent non-hormonal therapy (e.g., Herceptin and other targeted agents), or cytotoxic chemotherapy * No concurrent clopidogrel bisulfate (Plavix)