OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of hypnosis for management of claustrophobia in patients submitted to magnetic resonance imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty claustrophobic patients referred for magnetic resonance imaging under sedation were submitted to hypnosis using the Braid technique. The patients susceptible to hypnosis were submitted to magnetic resonance imaging under hypnotic tra...

Asperugo procumbens L. has been used in Iranian traditional medicine for the refreshing, tranquillizing and mood elevating activities. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antidepressant and sedative-hypnotic potential of acute administration of the hydroalcoholic extract of this plant in mice. Additionally, the effects of flumazenil on the hypnotic activity of the extracts were eva...

Asperugo procumbens L. has been used in Iranian traditional medicine for the refreshing, tranquillizing and mood elevating activities. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antidepressant and sedative-hypnotic potential of acute administration of the hydroalcoholic extract of this plant in mice. Additionally, the effects of flumazenil on the hypnotic activity of the extracts were eva...

Background: Coriandrum sativum L. has been recommended for relief of insomnia in Iranian traditional medicine. However, no pharmacological studies have yet evaluated its sedative effects. The aim of this study was to determine if extracts and essential oil of coriander seeds have sedative-hypnotic activity. Methods: The aqueous or hydro-alcoholic extracts or essential oil of coriander seeds (10...

Cortical evoked response audiometry is adequate for approximating hearing threshold levels with frequency specificity when the psychoacoustic responses lack reliability and reproducibility (compensation claim). It is well-known that control of wakefulness is essential for the reliability of slow vertex responses (SVR). Therefore, sedative, hypnotic, and neuroleptic drugs are supposed to have po...

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors mediate fast inhibitory synaptic transmission and have been implicated in responses to sedative/hypnotic agents (including neuroactive steroids), anxiety, and learning and memory. Using gene targeting technology, we generated a strain of mice deficient in the delta subunit of the GABA type A receptors. In vivo testing of various behavioral respons...

Insomnia and sleep complaints are common among older adults. Although once considered safer than benzodiazepine drugs, recent data on non-benzodiazepine drugs, such as zolpidem (Ambien(®)), have revealed similar negative effects. This issue, as well as others, has been included in the recent updated 2012 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria. This article describes the risks and benefits a...

Background: Discrepancies between objectively and subjectively measured sleep variables make diagnosing insomnia in the elderly difficult. Also relevant to diagnosing insomnia in the elderly are expectations about sleep, gender and use of sedative-hypnotic medication. The present study focuses on how these variables relate to insomnia and sleep satisfaction. Method: A questionnaire focusing on ...