Effect of Affective Content on Drug Induced Amnesia of Episodic Memory
18 Years
50 Years
Both
Memory Losses, Amnesia-Memory Loss
Trial Information
Effect of Affective Content on Drug Induced Amnesia of Episodic Memory
The protocol "Effect of Affective Content on Drug Induced Amnesia of Episodic Memory"
investigates the relationship between the ability of affective ('emotional') content to
modulate the formation of episodic memory, and the memory impairment ('amnestic') effects of
several common intravenous anesthetic drugs. Because memory modulation by affective content
appears to be a distinct memory process, the underlying question is whether drugs that
impair memory via different mechanisms will have differing effects on memory modulation.
Specifically, the objectives are: (1) To study the influence of three GABAergic agents
(thiopental, propofol, and midazolam) and one α2-adrenergic agent (dexmedetomidine) on the
ability of affective content to modulate the strength of episodic memory; and (2) To study
whether the subliminal ('consciously imperceptible') presentation of emotional words can
influence memory for visual stimuli shown immediately after the subliminal presentation.
A maximum of eighty volunteers will receive sub-anesthetic doses of one of the four study
drugs, or placebo, while performing a visual continuous recognition task ('CRT') of pictures
with randomly varying affective load. Drug effect on affective modulation of working and
early long-term memory behavior will be examined by analyzing which images are and are not
recognized during the CRT. Drug effect on affective modulation of later long-term memory
will be examined by analyzing which images are recognized several hours after presentation.
In a second experiment, emotive and non-emotive words are subliminally presented immediately
before the presentation of a 'bland' picture. The ability of the subliminally presented word
to influence memory will be examined by analyzing which bland images are recognized several
hours later.
Three hypotheses are tested:
The memory impairment effected by GABAergic drugs will be stronger for memory of emotively
positive images than for memory of emotively negative images
The memory impairment effected by dexmedetomidine will be similar for memory of emotively
positive and negative images
Recognition memory for neutral, non-arousing images will be greater if the image is
immediately preceded by the subliminal presentation of an emotively arousing word than if it
is preceded by an emotively non-arousing word
Inclusion Criteria:
- Healthy normal volunteers, age 18 to 50 years *,who show no evidence of neurologic
deficit on questionnaire and physical examination.
- Females must be non-pregnant as demonstrated using a serum pregnancy test.
- Right hand dominant.
- High school education or above.
- English as native language or equivalent degree of fluency. *Age group
selected based on pharmacokinetic models for drug infusion, and norms for
standardized memory tests.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Any evidence of neurologic deficit including seizures, severe head trauma resulting
in unconsciousness, or any previously abnormal study of CNS - (e.g. MRI, EEG, etc.)
- Any deficit in auditory or visual ability.
- Any history of hypertension (resting BP >150 systolic, >100 diastolic) or taking
anti- hypertensive medication or cardiovascular disease.
- Significant pulmonary, renal, gastrointestinal, or endocrine metabolic disease which
in the opinion of the investigator would complicate the goals of this study.
- Allergy to propofol or eggs.
- History of acute intermittent porphyria in subject or subject's blood relatives.
- History of substance abuse
- Currently taking centrally acting medications (e,g, benzodiazepines or anti
depressants)
- Subjects whose body weight relative to their height exceeds accepted criteria for
defining obesity in the general population (Body Mass Index > 30). Excess weight can
affect the pharmacodynamics of the drug in the body.
- Anyone who, in the opinion of the investigators, would be unwilling or unable to
tolerate the procedures and/or comply with the task instructions.
Type of Study:
Interventional
Study Design:
Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Pharmacokinetics/Dynamics Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Investigator), Primary Purpose: Treatment
Outcome Measure:
To study the influence of three GABAergic agents (thiopental, propofol, and midazolam) and one α2-adrenergic agent (dexmedetomidine) on the ability of affective content to modulate the strength of episodic memory
Outcome Time Frame:
over a two day period
Safety Issue:
No
Principal Investigator
Kane O. Pryor, M.D.
Investigator Role:
Principal Investigator
Investigator Affiliation:
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Authority:
United States: Institutional Review Board
Study ID:
04-087
NCT ID:
NCT00142493
Start Date:
September 2004
Completion Date:
August 2008
Related Keywords:
- Memory Losses
- Amnesia-Memory Loss
- Episodic Memory
- Amnesia
- Amnesia, Temporary
- Amnesia
- Memory Disorders
Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center | New York, New York 10021 |
