GABA‐ergic control of visual perception in healthy volunteers: effects of midazolam, a benzodiazepine, on spatio‐temporal contrast sensitivity.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
1. We studied the effects of midazolam (MDZ), a benzodiazepine, on spatio‐temporal contrast sensitivity, choice reaction time, and mood visual analogue scales in healthy volunteers. 2. Eight extensively trained, healthy volunteers were included in a placebo‐controlled cross‐ over double‐blind trial of MDZ (0.15 mg kg‐1). Treatments were injected intramuscularly and evaluations were performed before and 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 h after drug administration. Spatio‐temporal contrast sensitivity was measured using a micro‐computer with appropriate software. Stimuli were vertical gratings with adjustable contrast, with spatial frequencies of 0.25, 1 and 4 cpd. Four conditions of temporal modulation were used: the grating was either static or drifting laterally with temporal frequencies of 1, 3 and 9 Hz. 3. An analysis of variance was performed on the data. As compared with placebo, MDZ induced an increase in choice reaction time and sedation (as assessed on visual analogue scales). From 0.5‐4 h after the injection, MDZ produced an overall decrease in visual sensitivity, as compared with placebo. More specifically, MDZ preferentially affected medium to high spatial frequencies and low temporal frequencies. Several non‐exclusive hypotheses may account for the results: 1) an increase in the size of the receptive fields, 2) a preferential effect on the visual parvocellular pathways which mediate the sensitivity to high spatial and low temporal frequencies.