Jc. Sierra et al., THE ASSESSMENT OF RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF A SINGLE-DOSE OF DIAZEPAM ON VISUALLY-DEFINED EEG PATTERNS, J PSYCHOPH, 11(4), 1997, pp. 367-372
The aim of this single-blind study was to evaluate the residual effect
s of a IO-mg dose of diazeparn on cortical activation 11h after oral i
ntake. The electroencephalographic segments (from O-1-O-2) delimited b
y a sequence of photic stimuli presented every 10 sec during a simple
reaction-time task (36 min duration) were arbitrarily classified into
nine cerebral patterns (EEGP). EEGP segment classifications were group
ed into six peri-stimulus transitions expressed in percentages: alpha-
blockade; alpha-persistence; beta-persistence; alpha-induction; activa
tion and deactivation. A sample of 42 young healthy university student
s (21 females and 21 males) each underwent three counterbalanced exper
imental conditions (control, placebo and diazepam). Diazepam affected
all the subjects, although the women showed a greater number of EEGP t
ransitions which indicated deactivation, than did the men. The results
show that this type of visual EEG analysis is a useful technique for
detecting the residual effects of benzodiazepines.