The effect of oxazepam on ocular readaptation time

The readaptation time (RAT) is the interval during which a person exposed to a bright intense light flash cannot perceive a given target. In this study the target used was an optokinetic pattern and the elicited nystagmus (OKN) was registered with electrooculography (EOG), thus giving an objective registration of RAT. Oxazepam in therapeutic doses was given to five healthy subjects and the RAT and serum concentrations of the drug were registered simultaneously at different time intervals. An almost parallel increase of RAT and serum concentration of oxazepam was recorded. This suggests that RAT reflects the depressant effect on the CNS of this drug and it may be used as an objective method of following the clinical effect of a depressant drug as a function of time after intake.