Effects of fluvoxamine and dothiepin on psychomotor abilities in healthy volunteers

• Published in: Pharmacology, biochemistry and behavior Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 265 - 269
• Main Authors: Fairweather, D.B., Ashford, J., Hindmarch, I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.02.1996; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adult; Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation - pharmacology; Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition - drug effects; Cross-Over Studies; Daytime activity; Dothiepin; Dothiepin - pharmacology; Double-Blind Method; Flicker Fusion - drug effects; Fluvoxamine; Fluvoxamine - pharmacology; Humans; Hypnotics and Sedatives - pharmacology; Male; Medical sciences; Memory - drug effects; Middle Aged; Movement - drug effects; Neuropharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychomotor performance; Psychomotor Performance - drug effects; Psychopharmacology; Reaction Time - drug effects; Wrist - physiology; Dothiepin; Daytime activity; Fluvoxamine; Psychomotor performance; Human; Serotonin; Psychotropic; Antidepressant agent; Cognition; Psychomotricity; Tricyclic compound; Reuptake inhibitor; Normal; Performance; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0091-3057; 1873-5177
• DOI: 10.1016/0091-3057(95)00210-3

We gave 12 healthy male volunteers single doses of 50 mg fluvoxamine, 100 mg fluvoxamine, 75 mg dothiepin, and placebo in a double-blind crossover study. Subjects completed a test battery that was sensitive to the behaviourally toxic effects of psychoactive drugs prior to dosing, and then at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 h after dose. The test battery included tasks of choice reaction time, tracking, critical flicker fusion threshold, and memory scanning. Subjective feelings were assessed using the line analogue rating scales and the Milford-Epworth sleepiness scale. Daytime activity was recorded by means of wrist actigraphy. The results show that the positive internal control (dothiepin) had a sedative effect in that it impaired performance in the majority of the tests and also reduced daytime activity. Both doses of fluvoxamine remained relatively neutral throughout and did not impair psychomotor performance or cognitive ability in any of the tests. These results indicate that fluvoxamine may be a safe and efficacious antidepressant for outpatients who wish to carry on with the tasks of everyday life without being sedated.