Tollenaar Marieke S, Elzinga Bernet M, Spinhoven Philip, Everaerd Walter
Clinical, Health and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute for Psychological Research, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2009 Jan;91(1):23-31. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2008.08.002. Epub 2008 Sep 14.
While acute cortisol administration has been found to impair retrieval of emotional memories in healthy subjects, the duration of this memory impairment is still unknown. Propranolol, on the other hand, may impair the reconsolidation of emotional memories during reactivation, although human studies examining such effects are scarce. The present investigation was therefore undertaken to examine the immediate and prolonged effects of a single administered dose of cortisol or propranolol on memory retrieval in a double-blind placebo controlled design.
Eighty-five healthy male participants were asked to retrieve previously learned emotional and neutral information after ingestion of 35 mg cortisol, 80 mg propranolol or placebo. After a washout period of 1 week, recall was again tested.
Memory retrieval of neutral and emotional information was impaired by a single dose of cortisol compared to placebo. The memory impairment due to cortisol remained, even after a washout period of 1 week. No immediate or prolonged effects of propranolol on memory retrieval were found, despite significant reductions in sympathetic arousal.
These results lend support to the hypothesis that cortisol is able to attenuate (emotional) memory recall in men over longer time spans and may therefore augment the treatment of disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias, but do not clarify the mechanism(s) through which propranolol exerts its therapeutic effects.
虽然已发现急性给予皮质醇会损害健康受试者的情绪记忆提取，但这种记忆损害的持续时间仍不清楚。另一方面，普萘洛尔可能会在记忆重新激活期间损害情绪记忆的重新巩固，不过研究此类效应的人体研究较少。因此，本研究采用双盲安慰剂对照设计，以检验单次给予皮质醇或普萘洛尔对记忆提取的即时和长期影响。
85名健康男性参与者在摄入35毫克皮质醇、80毫克普萘洛尔或安慰剂后，被要求提取之前学习的情绪和中性信息。经过1周的洗脱期后，再次测试回忆情况。
与安慰剂相比，单次给予皮质醇会损害中性和情绪信息的记忆提取。即使经过1周的洗脱期，皮质醇导致的记忆损害仍然存在。尽管交感神经兴奋显著降低，但未发现普萘洛尔对记忆提取有即时或长期影响。
这些结果支持了以下假设，即皮质醇能够在较长时间内减弱男性的（情绪）记忆回忆，因此可能增强创伤后应激障碍和恐惧症等疾病的治疗效果，但并未阐明普萘洛尔发挥其治疗作用的机制。
