Effects of vincamine on EEG sleep patterns in man: a pilot study

Nightly EEG recordings were performed in 8 healthy volunteers after intramuscular injections of placebo and 30 mg vincamine, under double-blind conditions, according to a crossover design. The single dose of vincamine induced a significant decrease in sleep Stage 4, a decrease in REM stages which approached statistical significance, and finally an increase in REM latency only in subjects showing low baseline values of this parameter. The above data confirm the awakening and antidepressant action of vincamine observed in previous studies in both animals and man.