DOSE EFFECTS OF CHLORPROMAZINE IN HUMAN SLEEP

The data in the literature on the effects of chlorpromazine on sleep are either incomplete or apparently contradictory. The present investigation was carried out on 7 human subjects and demonstrates that at a dose level of 100 mg, chlorpromazine has a depressant effect on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep while at 25 mg it has an enhancing effect on this type of sleep. It is argued that, coupled with a possible species difference, this could account for the seeming contradictions in previous studies. It is also pointed out that unlike many psychoactive drugs, chlorpromazine does not show an immediate increase in REM sleep on withdrawal, and that this is probably due to its slow clearance rate from body tissue. This lack of immediate REM sleep withdrawal increase may in part account for chlorpromazine's clinical lack of withdrawal effects. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.