Faculty Collaboration Database

Beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist antihypertensive medications impair arousal-induced modulation of working memory in elderly humans. Behav Neural Biol 1994 Nov;62(3):190-200

Date

11/01/1994

Pubmed ID

7857241

DOI

10.1016/s0163-1047(05)80017-2

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0028172476 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   95 Citations

Abstract

It is well-established that administration of moderate doses of the adrenal catecholamines epinephrine or norepinephrine shortly after training results in the enhancement of later retention performance in laboratory animals. These substances, released endogenously as a result of arousal, are thought to modulate memory processes by stimulating peripheral receptors that send neural messages to the brain, thus altering the memory storage process. The applicability of this hypothesis to the modulation of memory processes in humans was tested in this experiment by using elderly subjects who were chronically taking beta-receptor antagonist medications to control hypertension. A moderate level of muscle-tension-induced arousal was produced by having subjects squeeze a hand dynamometer during the initial storage and recall of highlighted words in short 200-word paragraphs. Twenty young normal individuals, 22 normotensive elderly subjects, 21 elderly subjects taking either calcium-channel blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors to control hypertension, and 21 elderly subjects taking beta-blocker antihypertensive medications served as subjects. The young subjects, normal elderly subjects, and those taking non-beta-blocker medications all showed enhanced long-term recognition performance as a result of the arousal manipulation. However, those subjects chronically taking beta-receptor-antagonist medications showed no enhancement of memory.

Author List

Nielson KA, Jensen RA

Author

Kristy Nielson PhD Professor in the Psychology department at Marquette University

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors
Arousal
Attention
Calcium Channel Blockers
Enalapril
Female
Hand Strength
Humans
Hypertension
Male
Mental Recall
Middle Aged
Nifedipine
Propranolol
Verbal Learning