The proposed research has two specific aims: 1) demonstrate that ramelteon has no effect on event related potential components that reflect basic sensory processes (P1 and N1), and will not impair attention and memory processes, whereas the benzodiazepine receptor agonist zolpidem will significantly reduce (relative to placebo) the amplitude of these event related potential components throughout the cerebral cortex and 2) show that ramelteon reduces the abnormal hyperarousal in insomnia as reflected through a reduction in the contingent negative variation component of the event related potential across frontal and parietal brain regions.
