Comparison of the spectrum of cognitive effects of alprazolam and adinazolam after single doses in healthy subjects

Abstract

Single doses of alprazolam (0, 0.5, 1.5 mg) or adinazolam mesylate sustained release tablets (SR) (0, 15, 45 mg) were administered to separate groups of 12 healthy men in a crossover design. Psychomotor performance was assessed by digit symbol substitution (DSST), and memory was assessed using a test battery which reflects various aspects of memory, including attention/working memory, explicit memory (recall of categorically related words), semantic memory (fragmented picture recognition, generation of category exemplars), and implicit memory (time saved in resolving fragmented pictures on the second exposure). Maximal psychomotor performance and memory decrements for the highest active doses were significantly different from placebo for all tasks at some time after dosing. The maximum decrement in DSST was not significantly different between drugs at the high dose (P = 0.288). Maximum attention/working memory decrements were significantly different between the high doses of the active compounds (P = 0.031), and the difference in maximum category recall decrement was marginally significant (P = 0.067). Access to knowledge memory was not significantly altered by these drugs; these results are similar to those obtained for other benzodiazepines. Both drugs exhibited slight effects on implicit memory. The results suggest that the sedative and memory effects of these triazolobenzodiazepines may not be closely related and suggest that adinazolam has a somewhat different spectrum of cognitive effects relative to alprazolam.

Impact of alprazolam in allostatic load and neurocognition of patients with anxiety disorders and chronic stress (GEMA): observational study protocol

“…In the present study, we aim to investigate biochemical and neurocognitive variables in patients with high anxiety levels associated with chronic stress, and neuroticism (a clinical condition that indicates an exaggerated response to the stressors that require more time to recover from them), 51 68 69 and the impact of intermediate-term treatment (12 weeks) with low doses of alprazolam.…”

Midazolam does not inhibit association formation, just its storage and strengthening

“…A number of studies have also suggested that benzodiazepines impair attention (Buffett-Jerrott et al 2003;Fleishaker et al 1995;Loke et al 1985;Rich et al 2006;Vidailhet et al 1994) which we also believe is implicated in the binding process (Diana and Reder 2006).…”

Cognitive effects of benzodiazepine use: a review

“…The severity of these effects tends to be dose dependent (Hommer, 1991). Numerous other cognitive functions have been reported to be negatively affected and include verbal fluency (Kirkby et al, 1995), psychomotor speed/performance (Allen, Curran, & Lader, 1991;Fleishaker, Garzone, Chambers, & Sirocco, 1995;Gorissen, Eling, van Luijtelaar, & Coenen, 1995;Seppala et al, 1980), reaction time , coordination and attention (Curran, Schiwy, & Lader, 1987;Hommer, Weingartner, & Breier, 1993;Seppala et al, 1980;Smimrne, Ferini Strambi, Pirola, & Tancredi, 1989), effortful processing (Joyce & File, 1995), episodic memory (Hege, Ellinwood, Wilson, & Helligers, 1997;Joyce et al, 1995;Mintzer et al, 2001), semantic memory (Massin-Krauss, Bacon, & Danion, 2002) and explicit memory (Curran, Gorenstein, & Lader, 1993;Hommer et al, 1993).…”