Abstract
Hypnotics are medications used to induce, extend, or improve the quality of sleep, or to reduce wakefulness during sleep. The most commonly used hypnotics include benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BzRAs), Z-drugs, barbiturates, antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihistamines, orexin receptor antagonists, melatonin, melatonin receptor agonists, tryptophan, and valerian extracts. γ-aminobutyric acid-A receptors play a prominent role in the neurophysiology of the BzRAs, whereas the other hypnotics utilize numerous neurotransmitters within distinct anatomical regions. The various hypnotic classes differ in their effects on sleep parameters. The chapter will give you an overview of these substances, the kinetics, the biochemistry of the involved neurotransmitters, and their pharmacology.
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Hahn, M. (2021). Hypnotics: Pharmacology. In: Riederer, P., Laux, G., Nagatsu, T., Le, W., Riederer, C. (eds) NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56015-1_71-1
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