Effects of the beta-blocker propranolol on cued and contextual fear conditioning in humans

Abstract

These results suggest that beta-adrenergic receptors are involved in contextual fear conditioning.

Contextual conditioning in rats as an animal model for generalized anxiety disorder

“…In the CC model, propranolol has produced varying results (Grillon, Cordova, Morgan, Charney, & Davis, 2004), which might be explained by the fact that propranolol is not really an anxiolytic, but rather an antitremor drug.…”

Noradrenergic Signaling in Infralimbic Cortex Increases Cell Excitability and Strengthens Memory for Fear Extinction

“…Extensive research indicates that the stress-related neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) strengthens the formation of aversive memories (McGaugh, 2004). Blockade of NE signaling through noradrenergic ␤-receptors results in a loss of this enhancement in both animals (Gallagher et al, 1977;Liang et al, 1986;Ji et al, 2003) and humans (Cahill et al, 1994;Grillon et al, 2004). Thus, arousal-evoked NE release strengthens acquisition of aversive memories via ␤-receptor signaling.…”

Reconsolidation of appetitive memories for both natural and drug reinforcement is dependent on β-adrenergic receptors

“…We show that propranolol, given in conjunction with a memory reactivation session, can specifically disrupt the conditioned reinforcing properties of a previously appetitively reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS), whether the stimulus had been associated with self-administered cocaine or with sucrose. These data show that memories for both drug and nondrug CS-US associations are dependent on ␤-adrenergic receptor-mediated signaling for their reconsolidation, with implications for the potential development of a novel treatment for drug addiction and some forms of obesity.The neurochemical mechanisms underlying memory reconsolidation-the process hypothesized to occur following the reactivation or retrieval of a fully consolidated memory upon reexposure to conditioned stimuli (Nader 2003; Dudai and Eisenberg 2004)-have become increasingly investigated, in part because of the emergence of the view that disrupting memory reconsolidation might be exploited to treat neuropsychiatric disorders based upon the existence of maladaptive memories (e.g., Debiec and LeDoux 2006).Adrenergic signaling is implicated in both memory consolidation and reconsolidation; the administration of adrenaline enhances memory consolidation in aversive and appetitive tasks in animals and humans (Gold et al 1977;Liang et al 1985;Sternberg et al 1985;Introini-Collison and McGaugh 1986), and the administration of adrenergic receptor antagonists induces memory deficits in tasks including inhibitory avoidance (Lennartz et al 1996), taste memory (Miranda et al 2003), and odor-reward associations (Wilson et al 1994) in rats and, in humans, fear memory (Grillon et al 2004) and emotional learning (Cahill et al 1994;van Stegeren et al 1998). In rodents, ␤-adrenergic signaling has also been implicated in the reconsolidation of CS-fear memories (Debiec and LeDoux 2004), drugassociated memories (Bernardi et al 2006), spatial memories (Przybyslawski et al 1999), and other forms of appetitive memory (Diergaarde et al 2006).…”

“…Adrenergic signaling is implicated in both memory consolidation and reconsolidation; the administration of adrenaline enhances memory consolidation in aversive and appetitive tasks in animals and humans (Gold et al 1977;Liang et al 1985;Sternberg et al 1985;Introini-Collison and McGaugh 1986), and the administration of adrenergic receptor antagonists induces memory deficits in tasks including inhibitory avoidance (Lennartz et al 1996), taste memory (Miranda et al 2003), and odor-reward associations (Wilson et al 1994) in rats and, in humans, fear memory (Grillon et al 2004) and emotional learning (Cahill et al 1994;van Stegeren et al 1998). In rodents, ␤-adrenergic signaling has also been implicated in the reconsolidation of CS-fear memories (Debiec and LeDoux 2004), drugassociated memories (Bernardi et al 2006), spatial memories (Przybyslawski et al 1999), and other forms of appetitive memory (Diergaarde et al 2006).…”