Drug performance sensitivity: a pilot study.

Thirty noninsomniac healthy adult men were enrolled in a multicenter pilot study to evaluate the sensitivity of psychomotor and cognitive tasks and subjective evaluation of performance and mood after treatment with flurazepam (Dalmane) 45 mg (larger than the recommended prescribing dose of 15-30 mg). This pilot study was also used to standardize testing procedures. The subjects were given either flurazepam or placebo at 72-hour intervals in a double-blind Latin square crossover design. Choice reaction time, but not simple reaction time, was drug sensitive. Divided attention and vigilance tasks were also sensitive to drug effects. Of the two cognitive tasks tested, addition was impaired by drug, but reading comprehension was not. Subjective evaluations of performance and mood states indicate that these are useful measures, but responses on the Hopkins Symptom Checklist were not influenced.