Diazepam and its Effects on Psychophysiological and Behavioral Measures of Performance

摘要

This study investigated the use of a neuropsychological test battery to test human performance and evoked response decrements under the influence of a minor tranquilizer. A 10mg oral dose of diazepam (Valium) and placebo, preceded by baseline measurements, were administered on separate days resulting in four measurement sessions for each subject. A prototype neuropsychological test battery, capable of stimulus presentation, measurement, and storage was used to test (a) the steady state visual evoked response to both patterned and unpatterned multi-frequency stimulation; (b) the transient visual evoked response to both a stroboscopic flash and a transient stimulus embedded in a tracking task; (c) critical flicker fusion (CFF); and (d) reaction time, error rate, and a cognitive positive peak (p300) evoked in response to tasks involving auditory discrimination, short term memory, and spatial processing. Means from two baselines and the placebo measurement session were combined and compared to the diazepam measurement session using paired t-tests. Results indicated significant physiological, behavioral, and cognitive decrements in response to the diazepam. The simultaneous measurement of behavioral performance and cognitive evoked responses yielded an unprecedented ability to investigate the processing areas affected by the drug. Implications for more widespread use of the equipment and procedures are discussed. Keywords: Side effects(Drugs), Performance human. (KT)