Abstract
The basic assumption underlying psychopharmacology is that the effects of psychoactive drugs can be assessed by measuring the changes produced on aspects of human behaviour and cognitive function. This review concentrates on 3 established psychometric tests that have been shown over a long period of time to be not only valid and reliable measures of aspects of behaviour relevant to the daily activities of patients taking such drugs but also appropriate indicators of any countertherapeutic effects or side effects of medication. Choice reaction time (CRT) is a reliable index of sedation directly related to accident risk situations at home, on the road or at work. Critical flicker fusion threshold (CFFT), a direct measure of the capacity for processing cognitive information, is an accurate measure of various aspects of mental illness and drug effects, and the continuous daytime EEG (c-EEG) is a truly objective measure of CNS activity on a continuous 24-h basis. The judicious use of CRT, CFFT, CFFT and c-EEG not only demonstrates the inherent potential of certain molecules to adversely affect the performance of certain daily activities but also helps identify the drugs with profiles of activity or side effects that are likely to be countertherapeutic.
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