Psychomotor and cognitive effects of piribedil,
a dopamine agonist, in young healthy volunteers
by
Schuck S, Bentue-Ferrer D, Kleinermans D,
Reymann JM, Polard E, Gandon JM, Allain H.
Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Experimentale et Clinique,
Universite de Rennes I - Faculte de Medecine,
CS 34317, 35 043 Rennes cedex, France.
Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2002 Feb;16(1):57-65
ABSTRACT
Piribedil is a dopamine agonist acting on D2 and D3 central nervous system dopamine receptors. This drug has been administered to 12 young healthy male volunteers (age 22 +/- 2 years) according to a single center randomized, double-blind, two ways cross-over, placebo controlled trial, including a washout period of one week. Placebo and piribedil were administered by a single intravenous infusion over 2 h (3 mg). Psychomotor performance and cognitive functions were assessed through a standardized and computerized psychometric tests battery and a continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) mapping. Piribedil improved simple reaction time (P=0.02), immediate (P=0.045 and 0.004), and delayed free recall (P=0.05), dual coding test (P=0.02) and increased theta and fast beta waves on the EEG (P < 0.05 and 0.001, respectively). No deleterious effect was observed on the tests exploring attention and concentration via the other procedures. It is concluded that a single intravenous perfusion of piribedil 3 mg improves alertness and the information processing speed within the central nervous system, in healthy volunteers.
