Effects of diazepam on encoding processes

Gorissen, M. E. E.; Eling, Paul; Luijtelaar, Gilles van; Coenen, A.M.L.

doi:10.1177/026988119500900205

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…After diazepam subjects felt not only less active but also generally deactivated or even deactivated with a tendency towards sleepiness. Similar changes in alertness and vigilance have been found by Roy-Byrne et al [19], Boulanger et al [22], Unrug et al [3] and Gorissen et al [23], Methylphenidate increased the subjective feelings of alertness. This is in agreement with others who reported an increase in alertness and wakefulness [12,24.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Effects of the Tranquillizer Diazepam and the Stimulant Methylphenidate on Alertness and Memory

Unrug

Coenen²,

Luijtelaar³

1997

Neuropsychobiology

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Effects of alertness and memory of a single dose of diazepam (10 mg) and the central stimulant methylphenidate (20 mg) were studied in healthy volunteers. It was questioned whether opposite effects of diazepam and methylphenidate are not only observed with respect to alertness but also with respect to memory. It was also questioned whether the two drugs equally affect the first (primacy) and last (recency) items in both the immediate and delayed recall of newly learned words. The experiment was performed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled way. 12 subjects were exposed to a subjective alertness scale and a verbal memory test: a 15-word test. Subjective alertness was found to be decreased after diazepam and increased after methylphenidate. Anterograde amnesia was found after diazepam in the memory test. More specifically, the primacy but not the recency effect was reduced during the immediate recall and both were reduced in the delayed recall. Methylphenidate had no effect on memory, however a ceiling effect might have obscured a putative drug effect. The results of a second experiment excluded this possibility. In all, the data demonstrate opposite effects of the two drugs on subjective alertness, suggesting opposite effects on vigilance. Opposite effects on memory were not established. This demonstrates that changes in alertness do not run in parallel with changes in memory. A scatter diagram, however, suggests a small effect of alertness on immediate recall. The effects of diazepam were also discussed in terms of the Atkinson and Shiffrin memory theory and it seems that diminished rehearsal processes are one of the key factors in explaining diazepam-induced amnesia.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Effects of the Tranquillizer Diazepam and the Stimulant Methylphenidate on Alertness and Memory

Unrug

Coenen²,

Luijtelaar³

1997

Neuropsychobiology

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“…Importantly, it raises general question as to whether memory-active drugs induce specific effects on memory per se? Weingartner (1994) suggested that such drugs may be on other cognitive domains (e.g., attention, perception or encoding) rather than having specific effects on memory (see also Danion et al, 1993;Gorissen et al, 1995). indicated that specific effects on memory (e.g., BDZ "tolerance" effects in one-trial passive avoidance) are relatively difficult to study because the drugs may affect a wide range of performance variables, which could reflect either an amnestic effects or, for example, an anxiolytic-like effect.…”

Section: Inconsistencies and Cautionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of GABA in memory and anxiety

1996

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This review assesses the parallel literature on the role of gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) in memory and anxiety. We review historical and new data from both animal and human experimentation which have helped define the key role for this transmitter in both these mental states. By exploring the overlap in these conditions in terms of pharmacology, brain circuitry, and clinical phenomenology, we begin to develop a theory that the two conditions are intrinsically interrelated. The role of GABAergic agents in dissecting out and demonstrating this interrelationship and in pointing the way to future research is discussed. Depression and Anxiety 4:100–110, 1996/1997.© 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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“…A great deal of research has documented that the acute administration of benzodiazepines, much like alcohol, impairs a variety of cognitive functions, particularly memory and learning (Ghoneim and Mewalt 1990;Curran 1991;Weingartner et al 1992bWeingartner et al , 1993aGorissen et al 1995). The drug challenge chosen to alter state in alcoholics and normal volunteers was the benzodiazepine triazolam, a drug that produces behavioral, cognitive and neurobiological effects that resemble the effects of acute alcohol administration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Triazolam-induced changes in alcoholic thought processes

et al. 1998

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This study was designed to examine and contrast cognitive effects (explicit memory and access to semantic knowledge) of the benzodiazepine Halcion (triazolam) in ten normal volunteers and ten cognitively un-impaired detoxified alcoholics. The two groups were indistinguishable from one another under placebo conditions on all measures of cognitive functioning. Under Halcion test conditions (0.375 mg p.o.), both groups were about equally impaired in their recall of to-be-remembered information. However, alcoholics, were more likely to recall information that they were not asked to remember (intrusion errors) on all measures of explicit remembering. Alcoholics also generated relatively uncommon (low frequency) responses from semantic memory, rather than common, categorically related associations in response to stimuli such as types of vegetables, flowers, and fruit following the administration of Halcion, but were not different from normal volunteers in the types of responses generated under placebo conditions. These findings suggest that a drug challenge that simulates many of the effects of acute alcohol administration induces alcoholics to think and remember differently (qualitatively) from normal volunteers.

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Effects of diazepam on encoding processes

Abstract: Benzodiazepines are known to induce amnesic effects. To specify these effects more precisely, 40

Cited by 15 publications

References 32 publications

Effects of the Tranquillizer Diazepam and the Stimulant Methylphenidate on Alertness and Memory

Effects of the Tranquillizer Diazepam and the Stimulant Methylphenidate on Alertness and Memory

Role of GABA in memory and anxiety

Triazolam-induced changes in alcoholic thought processes

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