title: Psychomotor and cognitive effects of piribedil, a dopamine agonist, in young healthy volunteers.
abstract: Piribedil is a dopamine agonist acting on D2 and D3 central nervous system dopamine receptors. This drug has been administered to 12 young healthy male volunteers (age 22 +/- 2 years) according to a single center randomized, double-blind, two ways cross-over, placebo controlled trial, including a washout period of one week. Placebo and piribedil were administered by a single intravenous infusion over 2 h (3 mg). Psychomotor performance and cognitive functions were assessed through a standardized and computerized psychometric tests battery and a continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) mapping. Piribedil improved simple reaction time (P=0.02), immediate (P=0.045 and 0.004), and delayed free recall (P=0.05), dual coding test (P=0.02) and increased theta and fast beta waves on the EEG (P < 0.05 and 0.001, respectively). No deleterious effect was observed on the tests exploring attention and concentration via the other procedures. It is concluded that a single intravenous perfusion of piribedil 3 mg improves alertness and the information processing speed within the central nervous system, in healthy volunteers.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Expérimentale et Clinique, Université de Rennes I - Faculté de Médecine, CS 34317, 35 043 Rennes cedex, France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schück
authors.forename: Danièle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bentué-Ferrer
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kleinermans
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Reymann
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Polard
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gandon
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Allain
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D003221:Confusion / Q000139:chemically induced; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects; D006261:Headache / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000187:drug effects; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010891:Piribedil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012016:Reference Values; D012894:Sleep Stages
chemical_list: D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D010891:Piribedil