Effect of diazepam and chlorpromazine on memory functions in man

Abstract

The effect of a single oral dose of diazepam 10 mg or chlorpromazine 25 mg on memory in man was examined in a double-blind study, each drug being crossed-over against placebo, with 20 subjects for each drug. Kahn's Test for Symbol Arrangement and a paired association-learning task were used for assessment of acquisition, storage and retrieval, and state-dependency effects. A flicker-fusion test, two coordination tests, and a choice reaction task were used to evaluate alertness in the subjects. Diazepam significantly impaired acquisition, but slightly facilitated recall. Reaction time was shortened after acute diazepam treatment and coordination was impaired after two weeks treatment with diazepam. Acute treatment with chlorpromazine did not change memory or psychomotor performance.

A comparison of the sedative and amnestic effects of chlorpromazine and lorazepam

“…This is consistent with some previous reports (Liljequist et al 1978;Eitan et al 1992). However, the memory tests were selected in order to provide estimations of the functioning of working and semantic memory.…”

Effects on Learning and Memory of 2-Week Treatments with Chlordiazepoxide Lactam, N-Desmethyldiazepam, Oxazepam and Methyloxazepam, Alone or in Combination with Alcohol

“…It was observed that the capacity to acquire new material was impaired after diazepam and bromazepam, whereas diazepam facilitated the recall of orderly consolidated material (Liljequist et al, 1978).…”

“…Chlordiazepoxide lactam was the only drug which alone impaired associative learning. Also alcohol alone, and all the drugs in combination with alcohol retarded learning acquisition.A number of clinical effects of diazepam, such as symptomatic relief of anxiety, sedative effects, and also the effects on sleep and psychomotor perfor mance, are also shared by its metabolites (Randall et al, 1965; Dasberg et ai, 1974; Nicholson étal, 1976; Palva and Linnoila, 1978).In previous studies we have been concerned with the effects of benzodiaze pines on memory functions (Liljequist et al, 1975(Liljequist et al, , 1978. It was observed that the capacity to acquire new material was impaired after diazepam and bromazepam, whereas diazepam facilitated the recall of orderly consolidated material (Liljequist et al, 1978).…”

Acute and Subacute Effects of Diazepam on Psychomotor Skills: Interaction With Alcohol

“…However, except for training and motivation the groups were identical. Since diazepam may modify learning (Liljequist et al 1978) and since tolerance and a "sequence effect" can cloud the acute cross-over experiments (Liljequist & Mattila 1978) we considered proper not to conduct acute studies using a cross-over design. This was compensated for by a large number of subjects.…”