The effects of a single administration of etifoxine on several psychological tests

Abstract

The effects of etifoxine on healthy Ss was measured employing perceptual, psychophysiological and motor tests, in addition to which a personality inventory was given. All Ss took both drug and placebo with an interval of one week according to a balanced design. The same experimental procedure was used on both occasions under double blind conditions. The difference between the two sessions was tested for significance. Analyses of covariance were carried out with respect to the personality factors psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism. The drug had depressant effects on performance in perceptual tests, particularly flicker fusion, and it also affected habituation to tones of both the evoked cortical potential and the GSR in the same direction. The drug seemed completely inactive with respect to motor performance. There was a distinct interaction between drug-effect and personality factors. Ss whose scores indicated a low level of cortical arousal were less affected by the drug than others.