Variations in amnesia with intravenous diazepam.

Volunteer senior students who had not previously received a benzodiazepine were employed to determine whether amnesia induced by the intravenous administration of diazepam remained constant. Profoundness of amnesia was tested 24 hours after drug administration following a first and second exposure to the drug. The two experiences were set 28 days apart. The study showed that recall of events in the immediate post-drug administration period was likely to be less impaired following a second exposure to diazepam than following the first. It also revealed that recall of visual stimuli was significantly better than recall of cutaneous-tactile stimuli. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.