meprobamate

n. one of the drugs introduced into the U.S. market in the early 1950s as an alternative to the barbiturates. It was commonly and widely prescribed in the 1950s and 1960s for daytime sedation and the treatment of anxiety. Meprobamate is a less potent respiratory depressant than the barbiturates unless taken in combination with other CNS depressants, such as alcohol and opioids. Like the barbiturates, use of meprobamate has been almost completely supplanted by the benzodiazepines. U.S. trade name: Miltown. See also sedative, hypnotic, and anxiolytic drug.

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Psychology term of the day

November 18th 2024

recessive allele

the version of a gene (see allele) whose effects are manifest only if it is carried on both members of a homologous pair of chromosomes. Hence, the trait determined by a recessive allele (the recessive trait) is apparent only in the absence of another version of that same gene (the dominant allele). The term autosomal recessive is used to describe patterns of inheritance in which characteristics are conveyed by recessive alleles. For example, Tay–Sachs disease is an autosomal recessive disorder.