Towards a Post-exposition Pharmacological Prophylaxis for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

• Status: Recruiting
• Trial end date: 2022-01-29
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: Male

Summary

In this study, we investigate the role that deep sleep plays in the prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder after someone has been exposed to a trauma by boosting deep sleep with two drug conditions compared to placebo condition. Each volunteer in the study goes through all three conditions. The quantity of intrusive memories of the trauma will be compared between the three conditions.

• Phase: N/A
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Psychiatric University Hospital, Zurich
• Treatments: Dexmedetomidine; Sodium Oxybate

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Speaks and understands German

• BMI 18.5 -< 25

• Non-smoker status

• Habitual 5 or fewer alcoholic beverages / week

• Habitual 3 or fewer caffeinated beverages / day

• Habitual average sleep duration 7-9 h / night

• Normal or corrected-to-normal vision

• Insomnia Severity Index score between 8-14

Exclusion Criteria:

• Travel across 3 or more time zones within 3 months of study start

• Habitual napping

• Extreme chronotype, determined by Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire

• History of or presence of a trauma- or stressor-related disorder

• History of or presence of neurological disorder, psychiatric disorder or head injury

• History of or presence of a sleep disorder

• History of or presence of cardiovascular disorder

• Use of illicit drugs

• Atypical preference for excessively violent portrayals

• Faints at the site of blood or brutality

• Has participated in a study < 30 days or a study such as this (i.e., experimental trauma) at all.