Human psychopharmacology
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Human psychopharmacology · Dec 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyEffects of prolonged-release melatonin, zolpidem, and their combination on psychomotor functions, memory recall, and driving skills in healthy middle aged and elderly volunteers.
Melatonin is an important regulator of the sleep-wake cycle. A prolonged-release formulation of melatonin (PR-M) that essentially mimics the profile of the endogenous production of the hormone is effective in the treatment of insomnia in patients aged 55 years and older. Because hypnotics result in impairments of various cognitive skills, it is important to examine the cognitive effects associated with the use of PR-M. ⋯ This study extends previous researches showing impairment of cognitive functions by zolpidem within 5 h post-administration. Further, PR-M use was not found associated with impairment of psychomotor functions, memory recall, and driving skills, and point to a pharmacodynamic interaction between melatonin and GABA-A modulators.