REBOUND FROM D-AMPHETAMINE.
Abstract
Forty-three university students, recruited as paid volunteers, served as their own placebo controls in an experimental test of immediate and delayed effects of d-amphetamine sulfate in separate doses of 10 mg. and 15 mg. The question to be answered was whether short-term performance enhancement, obtainable in some tasks with amphetamines, is paid for by a subsequent impairment of performance below the pre-drug baseline: a rebound effect that may occur independently of intervening experience, sleep deprivation, etc. Immediate and delayed ('rebound') effects were assessed with three tasks in addition to a mood self-check list. The tasks included letter-checking, a coding test, and a test of verbal production. Neither the coding nor the letter-checking provided a check of the hypothesis. Coding showed no significant effects during either the immediate tests (1.5 to 3 hrs. after ingestion) nor during the delayed tests (19.5 - 21 hrs. and 24 - 25.5 hrs. after ingestion). Letter-checking showed a significant enhancement in the test of immediate effects, but the enhancement margin was so small that the subsequent absence of 'rebound' was inconclusive. Both verbal production and mood effects, however, showed strongly positive effects on the immediate tests, with no indication of subsequent 'rebound.' This finding suggests that acute medication can yield temporary enhancement without subsequent impairment beyond a return to the pre-drug baseline. This conclusion is, of course, restricted to the use of single dosages in situations where intervening activity and sleep deprivation are controlled. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0704610
Entities
People
- Nicholas C. Chubb
- Paul M. Hurst
- Sallyann K. Bagley