Memory enhancement in Korsakoff's psychosis by clonidine: further evidence for a noradrenergic deficit.

Three drugs, d-amphetamine, clonidine, and methysertide, which presumably enhance central noradrenergic activity by different pharmacological mechanisms, were administered to eight patients with the Korsakoff syndrome in a two-week subacute, double-blind, counterbalanced experiment to study the effects of these agents on memory function as measured by a neuropsychological test battery. Of the drugs tested, only clonidine, a putative alpha-noradrenergic agonist, was associated with significant improvement in memory. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that damage to ascending norepinephrine-containing neurons in the brainstem and diencephalon may be the basis for amnesia in Korsakoff's psychosis.