Testing the effectiveness of cerebrally active drugs. Preliminary communication on a test model for cerebrally active drugs in humans

: In a pilot study the feasibility of a new model in clinical pharmacology was investigated for testing cerebro-active drugs on healthy volunteers. For this study 6 volunteers were examined under room-air conditions (pO2 = 155 mmHg) and under a reduced oxygen mixture (12% O2, 88% N2, pO2 = 89 mmHg). Using the "Wiener Determinationsgeraet" (WDG) the subjects were tested as to their receptivity for complex information, their capacity for assimilating information, their reaction capacity, their reaction speed and reaction reliability. The results showed a stochastic connection between measured values on the WDG and the arterial oxygen partial pressure of the volunteers. These results justify additional studies with the described "hypoxia model" in order to test whether this reduction in capability in the healthy volunteers can be counteracted by application of cerebro-active drugs. This model could be used as a screening test for posology and pharmacodynamic effects in view of the further drug development in phase II studies on a larger number of patients.