Secobarbital or placebo was administered to six subjects in a random double-blind crossover design. The subjects were interrupted from stage 4 sleep and required to perform a battery of tests. Compared to control scores the results indicate that secobarbital had (1) a negligible effect (less than 5%) on hand tapping coordination and dynamic steadiness; (2) a slight (5–10%) performance decrement on hand tapping speed, critical tracking ability, step reaction time, step movement time, and mental arithmetic; (3) a moderate decrement (20–40%) on visual plus auditory tracking ability, and auditory tracking ability, and (4) a 12% improvement on static steadiness. Few changes were statistically significant. Performance was near normal upon morning awakening. Secobarbital appeared to adversely affect performance primarily on those tasks requiring fast reactions and skilled hand-eye coordination ability in response to unpredictable events.
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