Residual effects of flunitrazepam.

Abstract

1 Twelve normal subjects were tested on a large battery of tests after a hypnotic dose of flunitrazepam(1 or 2 mg) and a placebo. Psychological tests were given 12 h after the drug and physiological tests 12, 15 and 18 h after the drug. 2 The tests included self‐ratings of hypnotic effects and mood, the electroencephalogram, the auditory electroencephalographic evoked response, skin conductance, tapping, card‐sorting and the symbol copying test. 3 Both doses of flunitrazepam were effective hypnotics according to the ratings, with an anxiolytic effect the following day. The EEG was significantly altered up to 18 h after the drug and the behavioural tests showed a motor impairment 12 h after drug administration. 4 Nearly all changes displayed linear dose‐ related trends. 1975 The British Pharmacological Society