Trial reportPsychopharmacology2007
Arousal and the pupil: why diazepam-induced sedation is not accompanied by miosis.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lack of sedative effects after vespertine intake of oxazepam as hypnotic in healthy volunteers.Psychopharmacology · 2009Trial
- Comparison of ketanserin, buspirone and propranolol on arousal, pupil size and autonomic function in healthy volunteers.Psychopharmacology · 2009Trial
- Owner reported prevalence of autonomic signs in epileptic dogs.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- The Influence of Opioids on Pupil Initial Diameter and Pupillary Dilation Velocity in ICU Patients.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2025Observational
- Detecting benzodiazepine use through induced eye convergence inability with a smartphone app: a proof-of-concept study.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Effect of nose twitching on the pupillary dilation in awake and anesthetized horses.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- Publication guidelines and recommendations for pupillary measurement in psychophysiological studies.Psychophysiology · 2022Article
- Standards in Pupillography.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Review
- Pupil Size Coupling to Cortical States Protects the Stability of Deep Sleep via Parasympathetic Modulation.Current biology : CB · 2018Article
- Functional Organization of the Sympathetic Pathways Controlling the Pupil: Light-Inhibited and Light-Stimulated Pathways.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Review
- Infrared pupillometry, the Neurological Pupil index and unilateral pupillary dilation after traumatic brain injury: implications for treatment paradigms.SpringerPlus · 2014Article
- Association between pupillometric sleepiness measures and sleep latency derived by MSLT in clinically sleepy patients.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2013Article
- Modulation of physiological reflexes by pain: role of the locus coeruleus.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2012Article
- Functional neuroanatomy of the noradrenergic locus coeruleus: its roles in the regulation of arousal and autonomic function part II: physiological and pharmacological manipulations and pathological alterations of locus coeruleus activity in humans.Current neuropharmacology · 2008Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleThere is a close relationship between arousal and pupil diameter, decrease in the level of arousal being accompanied by constriction of the pupil (miosis), probably reflecting the attenuation of sympathetic outflow as sedation sets in. Paradoxically, sedation induced by benzodiazepines is not accompanied by miosis.
objectiveThe objective of this study was to examine the hypothesis that diazepam may attenuate both the sympathetic and the opposing parasympathetic outflow to the iris, which may mask the miosis. Dapiprazole (sympatholytic) and tropicamide (parasympatholytic) were applied topically, together with the cold pressor test (CPT), to manipulate the sympathetic/parasympathetic balance. MATERIALS AND
methodsSixteen healthy male volunteers participated in four weekly sessions according to a balanced double-blind protocol. Diazepam 10 mg (two sessions) and placebo (two sessions), associated with either 0.01% tropicamide or 0.5% dapiprazole eyedrops, were administered orally. Pupil diameter, light and darkness reflexes and pupillary sleepiness waves were recorded with infrared video pupillometry, alertness was measured by critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) and visual analogue scales (VAS), blood pressure and heart rate by conventional methods. CPT was applied after post-treatment testing. Data were analysed by analysis of variance, with multiple comparisons.
resultsDiazepam caused sedation (reduction in VAS alertness scores and CFFF, increase in sleepiness waves), dapiprazole had a sympatholytic and tropicamide a parasympatholytic effect on the pupil. Diazepam had no effect on pupil diameter and reflexes or their modifications by the antagonists. CPT increased pupil diameter, blood pressure and heart rate, and the increase only in systolic blood pressure was attenuated by diazepam.
conclusionsDiazepam-induced sedation is not accompanied by any change in either the sympathetic or parasympathetic influence on the iris.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.