Abstract
We studied the effects of single evening doses of melatonin (0.3 mg and 1.0 mg orally) on polysomnographically measured sleep in 15 healthy middle-aged volunteers, using a placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over design. Compared to placebo, the 1.0 mg dose of melatonin significantly increased Actual Sleep Time, Sleep Efficiency, non-REM Sleep and REM Sleep Latency. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that low dose melatonin has hypnotic effects in humans. It is possible that administered melatonin may have a role to play in the treatment of sleep disorders.
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Attenburrow, M.E.J., Cowen, P.J. & Sharpley, A.L. Low dose melatonin improves sleep in healthy middle-aged subjects. Psychopharmacology 126, 179–181 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02246354
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02246354