Since sleep deprivation is an effective antidepressant treatment, several studies have been published concerning the effect of sleep deprivation performed with the small platform technique on noradrenergic receptors in brain. Unlike what has been observed after chronic treatment with tricyclic antidepressants, changes in adrenergic and serotoninergic receptors after sleep deprivation were modest and contradictory (Siegel and Rogawski, 1988).