The effect of a sub-chronic administration of three dose levels of a 1,5-benzodiazepine derivative, clobazam, on subjective assessments of sleep and aspects of psychomotor performance the morning following night time medication.

Abstract

The effect of repeated doses of a 1,5-benzodiazepine derivative, clobazam, at doses of 20, 30, and 40 mg taken at night was assessed the morning following medication on a variety of subjective and objective measures of sleep and psychomotor performance. None of the three dose levels of the drug produced any significant changes in critical flicher fusion thresholds or in complex reaction time tasks. Conceptual learning ability was not impaired by any of the doses of clobazam administered. Clobazam was rated on a self-scoring analogue rating scale as an effective sleep inducer, which also improved the perceived quality of sleep. There was also a reduction in the perceived integrity of early morning behaviour commensurate with the reported ease of getting to sleep.