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Neuropsychopharmacology. 2005 Apr;30(4):833-41.
Effect of repeated gaboxadol administration on night sleep and next-day
performance in healthy elderly subjects.
Mathias S, Zihl J, Steiger A, Lancel M.
Section of Sleep Pharmacology, Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry,
Munich, Germany.
Aging is associated with dramatic reductions in sleep continuity
and sleep intensity. Since gaboxadol, a selective GABA(A) receptor
agonist, has been demonstrated to improve sleep consolidation and
promote deep sleep, it may be an effective hypnotic, particularly
for elderly patients with insomnia. In the present study, we investigated
the effects of subchronic gaboxadol administration on nocturnal sleep
and its residual effects during the next days in elderly subjects.
This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, balanced
crossover study in 10 healthy elderly subjects without sleep complaints.
The subjects were administered either placebo or 15 mg gaboxadol hydrochloride
at bedtime on three consecutive nights. Sleep was recorded during
each night from 2300 to 0700 h and tests assessing attention (target
detection, stroop test) and memory function (visual form recognition,
immediate word recall, digit span) were applied at 0900, 1400, and
1700 h during the following days.
Compared with placebo, gaboxadol significantly
shortened subjective sleep onset latency and increased self-rated
sleep intensity and quality. Polysomnographic recordings showed that
it significantly decreased the number of awakenings, the amount of
intermittent wakefulness, and stage 1, and increased slow wave sleep
and stage 2. These effects were stable over the three nights. None
of the subjects reported side effects. Next-day cognitive performance
was not affected by gaboxadol. Gaboxadol persistently improved subjective
and objective sleep quality and was devoid of residual effects. Thus,
at the employed dose, it seems an effective hypnotic in elderly subjects.
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