Preventive Effect of β-Adrenoceptor Blockade on Glucocorticoid-Induced Memory Retrieval Deficits

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry Vol. 164; no. 6; pp. 967 - 969
• Main Authors: de Quervain, Dominique J.-F., Aerni, Amanda, Roozendaal, Benno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychiatric Association 01.06.2007
• Subjects: Adrenergic beta-Antagonists - pharmacology; Adrenergic beta-Antagonists - therapeutic use; Adult; Arousal - drug effects; Arousal - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cortisone - pharmacology; Double-Blind Method; Emotions - drug effects; Emotions - physiology; Female; Glucocorticoids - pharmacology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Memory Disorders - chemically induced; Memory Disorders - prevention & control; Mental Recall - drug effects; Mental Recall - physiology; Placebos; Propranolol - pharmacology; Propranolol - therapeutic use; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Receptors, Adrenergic, beta - drug effects; Verbal Learning - drug effects; Prevention; Memory retrieval; Memory disorder; Cognitive disorder; Memory; Glucocorticoid; β-Adrenergic receptor
• ISSN: 0002-953X; 1535-7228
• DOI: 10.1176/ajp.2007.164.6.967

Elevated glucocorticoid levels impair retrieval of emotional information, and animal studies indicate that this effect depends on concurrent emotional arousal-induced increases in noradrenergic transmission within the brain. The authors investigated whether the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol blocks glucocorticoid-induced memory retrieval impairments in human subjects. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 42 healthy volunteers were presented a set of words with variable emotionality and asked to learn them for recall. A day later, cortisone (25 mg), propranolol (40 mg), or both drugs were administered orally 1 hour before a free-recall test. Cortisone selectively impaired the recall of emotionally arousing words by 42%. This impairment was blocked by the concurrent administration of propranolol. Propranolol alone did not affect recall of either emotional or neutral words. A pharmacological blockade of beta-adrenoceptors prevents glucocorticoid-induced memory retrieval deficits in human subjects. This finding may have important implications for the treatment of memory deficits in hypercortisolemic states, such as stress and depression.