Effects of adinazolam and diazepam, alone and in combination with ethanol, on psychomotor and cognitive performance and on autonomic nervous system reactivity in healthy volunteers.

Effects on psychomotor and cognitive performance of adinazolam (15 or 30 mg), alone and in combination with ethanol (0.8 g/kg), were studied in healthy male volunteers and compared to effects of 10 mg diazepam. Adinazolam 30 mg produced relatively long-lasting impairments on tests of tracking, attention, verbal and nonverbal information processing, and memory. Adinazolam 15 mg resulted in descreased visual information processing. Adinazolam decreased supine mean arterial pressure, but only the 15 mg resulted in a tendency for decreased plasma norepinephrine concentrations. After standing for 5 min, 30 mg adinazolam was associated with increased heart rate. Although ethanol consumption produced additive decrements on a continuous performance task, there was little evidence to support a synergistic effect. Adinazolam 30 mg was accompanied by increased self-reports of side effects, especially drowsiness.