Memory Loss in a Patient Treated with Fluoxetine

Abstract

Clinicians should be aware of the possible effects of fluoxetine (and possibly other SSRIs) on memory.

Activation of septal 5‐HT1A receptors alters spatial memory encoding, interferes with consolidation, but does not affect retrieval in rats subjected to a water‐maze task

“…Our findings might have some relevance to approaches relying upon the modification of serotonergic functions in the brain for treating disorders such as e.g., depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress. Concerning depression, for instance, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) have the best safety record among the different therapeutic options (van Laar et al, 2002), but there is a literature reporting on possible SSRI-related memory problems (Goodnick and Goldstein, 1998;Joss et al, 2003;Wadsworth et al, 2005). Although these memory problems could be related to various confounding factors (subject's history, age, existence of age-related cognitive dysfunctions.…”

SSRIs and cognitive performance in a working sample

“…Both beneficial (Levkovitz et al, 2002;Harmer et al, 2004;Zobel et al, 2004) and detrimental (Masand and Gupta, 1999;Schmitt et al, 2001;Joss et al, 2003) effects have been reported. In part, this may be due to the differing pharmacological, and hence specific cognitive effects, or individual SSRIs Goodnick and Goldstein, 1998).…”

“…Most of those who took part reported taking fluoxetine (n ¼ 6), followed by escitalopram (n ¼ 4), citalopram (n ¼ 3), paroxetine (n ¼ 2) and sertraline (n ¼ 2). Fluoxetine has been implicated in memory impairment before (Mirow, 1991;Bradley and Kulik, 1993;Bangs et al, 1995;Joss et al, 2003), as has paroxetine (Furlan et al, 2001;Schmitt et al, 2001), which has anticholinergic properties Schmitt et al, 2001). Both have also been associated with memory improvement (Fudge et al, 1990;Nebes et al, 1990;Tarangano et al, 1997;Cassano et al, 2002).…”

“…In particular these seem to suggest memory problems Joss et al, 2003). However, many studies also show that depression itself can impair cognitive function (Wong et al, 2000;Alvarez-Rueda et al, 2001), including memory (Brown et al, 1994;Richardson et al, 1994;Elliot et al, 1996;Landro et al, 1997).…”

Use and impact of antidepressants in the school setting

“…However, the suggestion of "cognitive" impairment suggests too broad of an impact. In reality, positive findings along this front have merely suggested memory problems associated with SSRIs and SRNIs (Joss, Burton, & Keller, 2003). In terms of this link with specific SSRIs and/or SNRIs, fluoxetine (Prozac; Joss et al, 2003) and paroxetine (Paxil; Furlan et al, 2001) represent those previously associated with memory impairments, yet they have also been linked with memory improvement (Schmitt, Jorissen, & Sobczak, 2001).…”