Volume 14, Issue S1 pp. S72-S79
Research Article

Effects of anxiolytics on memory

H. Valerie Curran

H. Valerie Curran

Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK

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Abstract

Drugs used in the treatment of anxiety disorders can produce impairments of cognitive functions. This article provides an overview and summary of research on the effects of anxiolytics upon human memory. Research with the benzodiazepines has shown that they produce a differential pattern of memory deficits whereby episodic memory is dose-dependently impaired but other memory systems are preserved relatively intact. Other anti-anxiety drugs have received relatively little research attention in terms of their memory effects. Recent studies imply that beta-blockers may produce poor memory particularly for emotionally valent information and that, at higher doses, buspirone may have detrimental effects on verbal recall. Studies with anxious patients suggest that tolerance does not fully develop to the amnestic effects of benzodiazepines over repeated use. Further, residual memory impairments appear to persist for a time beyond cessation of use of these drugs. The importance is stressed of assessing the effects of novel anxiolytics on a wide range of memory functions in clinical populations as well as in healthy volunteers. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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