Leiden University-Institute of Psychology, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2010 Mar;93(3):388-95. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2009.12.005. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
Noradrenalin modulates prefrontal function, such as working memory (WM), and is associated with enhanced distractibility, and enhanced memory for emotional events and stimuli. The beta-blocker propranolol has been shown to reduce memory for emotional stimuli. Herein we describe investigations aimed at assessing whether the administration of propranolol would reduce the interference by emotional distractions during WM performance. In a between-subjects design, 48 young, healthy men received 80 mg propranolol (n=25) or placebo (n=23), before performing an "emotional Sternberg task" with neutral and negatively arousing distracters. Compared to placebo, propranolol impaired WM at low load, however, it also reduced the interference by emotional distracters at high load. Furthermore, an explorative moderated-mediation analysis indicated that the observed propranolol effects on emotional distraction were partially mediated by cortisol. In future non-clinical and clinical memory studies using propranolol administration, cortisol elevations should be monitored to further investigate the potential mediating role of cortisol.
去甲肾上腺素调节前额叶功能，例如工作记忆 (WM)，并与注意力分散增强以及对情绪事件和刺激的记忆增强有关。β受体阻滞剂普萘洛尔已被证明可减少对情绪刺激的记忆。本文描述了旨在评估普萘洛尔给药是否会减少 WM 表现过程中情绪干扰的研究。在一项被试间设计中，48 名年轻健康的男性接受了 80 毫克普萘洛尔（n=25）或安慰剂（n=23），然后进行了带有中性和负性分心物的“情绪 Sternberg 任务”。与安慰剂相比，普萘洛尔在低负荷下损害了 WM，但在高负荷下也减少了情绪分心物的干扰。此外，探索性的中介分析表明，观察到的普萘洛尔对情绪分心的影响部分通过皮质醇介导。在未来使用普萘洛尔给药的非临床和临床记忆研究中，应监测皮质醇升高，以进一步研究皮质醇的潜在中介作用。
