We have shown that at lower anxiety levels, D-cycloserine 50 mg improved the performance of this challenging visuospatial cognitive task. This increase in performance was not seen when anxiety was higher, and D-cycloserine did not appear to increase subjective anxiety. These data lend support to the use of D-cycloserine and related glutamate enhancers as cognitive modulators and suggest that the actions of D-cycloserine are not simply related to increased arousal or anxiety.

In summary, our study suggests that alcohol dependence in man is associated with a reduced EEG sleep response to the benzodiazepine agonist, midazolam, which is not explained by reduced BDZ receptor occupancy, and is consistent with reduced sensitivity in this measure of GABA-BDZ receptor function in alcohol dependence. The lack of change in other functional measures may reflect a differential involvement of particular subtypes of the GABA-BDZ receptor.

No abstract