Retrograde enhancement of human memory with alcohol

Parker, Elizabeth S.; Birnbaum, Isabel M.; Weingartner, Herbert; Hartley, Joellen T.; Stillman, R. C.; Wyatt, Richard Jed

doi:10.1007/bf00427653

Cited by 98 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Since then, several studies reported the effect on humans. They revealed that post-training administration of ethanol improved verbal recall (Parker et al, 1980;Lamberty et al, 1990;Tyson and Schirmuly, 1994), visual recognition (Parker et al, 1981), verbal recognition (Bruce and Pihl, 1997), and kinesthetic memory (Hewitt et al, 1996). In animals, post-training ethanol treatment improves performance in a water-finding task in rats (Melia et al, 1986) and social memory in rats (Prediger and Takahashi, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There also are several reports, which showed that ethanol has effects when administered during post-training. In humans, ethanol administered after training actually facilitates learning ability for many tasks (Parker et al, 1980;Lamberty et al, 1990;Tyson and Schirmuly, 1994;Bruce and Pihl, 1997;Hewitt et al, 1996). However, conflicting results are reported in animal studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethanol Enhances Reactivated Fear Memories

Nomura

Matsuki

2008

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Although ethanol has been shown to impair acquisition of memory, its effect on consolidated memories is not clear. Recent reports revealed that memory retrieval converted consolidated memory into a labile state and initiated the reconsolidation process. In the present study, we have demonstrated the effect of ethanol on reactivated fear memory. We used contextual fear conditioning where rats were conditioned with mild footshock, re-exposed to the training context for 2 min, immediately injected with ethanol or saline, and finally tested 48 h after re-exposure. Ethanol-treated groups demonstrated longer freezing and the effect lasted for 2 weeks. Reactivation is necessary for this effect. Injection of ethanol itself did not induce a fearful response. Reactivated and ethanol-treated rats exhibited longer freezing than non-reactivated controls, suggesting that ethanol does not inhibit the memory decline but facilitates the fear memory. Two minute re-exposures induced no or little extinction. The effect of ethanol was specific for 2-min reactivation, which induces reconsolidation. Moreover, we found that picrotoxin inhibited the memory enhancement that was produced by ethanol administered just after the reactivation. These studies demonstrate that ethanol enhances reactivated contextual fear memories via activation of GABA A receptors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethanol Enhances Reactivated Fear Memories

Nomura

Matsuki

2008

Neuropsychopharmacol

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“…Alcohol impairs learning when it is present during encoding (Zorumski et al, 2014), whereas it enhances learning and memory for salient environmental stimuli when it is present during consolidation. Parker et al (1980Parker et al ( , 1981 first demonstrated this in humans, showing that alcohol improved memory when it was administered immediately following stimulus presentation (i.e., during memory consolidation). Similar findings have since been reported from several different laboratories (Bruce & Pihl, 1997;Bruce et al, 1999a;Knowles & Duka, 2004;Mann et al, 1984).…”

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confidence: 96%

Acute Effects of Alcohol on Encoding and Consolidation of Memory for Emotional Stimuli

Weafer

Gallo

Wit

2016

J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs

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ABSTRACT. Objective: Acute doses of alcohol impair memory when administered before encoding of emotionally neutral stimuli but enhance memory when administered immediately after encoding, potentially by affecting memory consolidation. Here, we examined whether alcohol produces similar biphasic effects on memory for positive or negative emotional stimuli. Method: The current study examined memory for emotional stimuli after alcohol (0.8 g/kg) was administered either before stimulus viewing (encoding group; n = 20) or immediately following stimulus viewing (consolidation group; n = 20). A third group received placebo both before and after stimulus viewing (control group; n = 19). Participants viewed the stimuli on one day, and their retrieval was assessed exactly 48 hours later, when they performed a surprise cued recollection and recognition test of the stimuli in a drug-free state. Results: As in previous studies, alcohol administered before encoding impaired memory accuracy, whereas alcohol administered after encoding enhanced memory accuracy. Critically, alcohol effects on cued recollection depended on the valence of the emotional stimuli: Its memory-impairing effects during encoding were greatest for emotional stimuli, whereas its memory-enhancing effects during consolidation were greatest for emotionally neutral stimuli. Effects of alcohol on recognition were not related to stimulus valence. Conclusions: This study extends previous findings with memory for neutral stimuli, showing that alcohol differentially affects the encoding and consolidation of memory for emotional stimuli. These effects of alcohol on memory for emotionally salient material may contribute to the development of alcohol-related problems, perhaps by dampening memory for adverse consequences of alcohol consumption. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 77, 86-94, 2016)

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“…Recent learning is relatively labile (McGaugh 2000) and may be vulnerable to a number of influences, including the introduction of a subsequent learning experience (Müller and Pilzecker 1900). Conversely, otherwise amnestic drugs such as alcohol or benzodiazepines improve memory for items presented before the administration of these drugs (Hinrichs et al 1984;Mueller et al 1983;Parker et al 1980). The mesoamygdaloid dopamine projection appears well suited to play a key role in such retroactive modulation of recent learning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%