Benzodiazepine Receptor Ligands, Memory and Information Processing

Abstract

In order to study the time course of amnesic effects of the benzodiazepine hypnotic lormetazepam, and their reversal by the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15–1788, a combined visual and auditory memory test was developed, which was designed to allow repeated assessments. Interestingly, the performance in delayed free recall of the visual memory test was significantly enhanced in the lormetazepam group prior to administration. Our results suggest that impaired acquisition of new information after lormetazepam is benzodiazepine receptor mediated and may be associated with a drug-induced enhancement of retrieval of information acquired before lormetazepam administration.