Imaging the Effects of Zolpidem and Alprazolam in Healthy Volunteers at 3T
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2013-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The primary goal of this double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects functional
neuroimaging study is to examine the extent to which the hypnotic zolpidem decreases brain
activity in regions of the brain known to process emotional information. Although zolpidem is
an effective sleep-aid, its ability to engender anti-anxiety effects is equivocal, yet
promising. Zolpidem's activity during tasks that engage anxiety-related processes in the
brain will be compared to that of the known anxiolytic drug alprazolam, a positive comparator
caffeine, and placebo. A secondary goal of this study is to compare the subjective drug
effects, or how individuals feel, following the interventions. These measures will be used to
determine the existence of brain-behavior relationships, thus demonstrating that imaging is
an important tool for informing us about how drugs produce their effects in the brain.