Effects of hypnotic drugs on memory

doi:10.1016/0024-3205(79)90415-6

Life Sciences

Volume 25, Issue 16, 15 October 1979, Pages 1379-1388

https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(79)90415-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

An original design and new task procedures were used to evaluate the effects of morning recall of flunitrazepam 2 mg and secobarbital 100 mg taken at bedtime the previous night. Both flunitrazepam and secobarbital produced anterograde amnesia on the morning following the first drug night; with flunitrazepam, this effect was still evident on the third drug night, but did not appear to be related to plasma drug concentrations. These results suggest that when patients ingest certain benzodiazepine hypnotics before or at bedtime, there may be a decrement in memory retrieval of information acquired before sleep onset or during nocturnal awakenings. Further studies are needed to determine whether the anterograde amnesia produced by benzodiazepine drugs is an aspect of state-dependent learning.

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Complex behaviors related to zolpidem: An analysis of published clinical cases from Taiwan
2012, Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine
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The amnestic nature of the complex behaviors is dose-dependent and dependent on route of administration.27 It has also been suggested that zolpidem’s anterograde amnesia is related to disruption of long-term memory consolidation through the shortening of sleep latency.28 In 1994, Mendelson29 was the first to describe the case of a man sleepwalking after taking zolpidem.
Benzodiazepines with a unique chemical structure of three-ring diabenzine can induce the benzodiazepine-gamma aminobutyric acid A receptor complex to produce sedative, anxiolytic, muscle-relaxant, and anticonvulsant effects. But they have serious side effects such as tolerance and withdrawal, memory and performance impairments, and complex behaviors associated with amnesia.
We searched zolpidem-related published papers from Taiwan from 2003 to 2011. All bibliographical data of original clinical reports were studied. We focused only on complex behaviors related to zolpidem and not on the symptoms of zolpidem-related addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal.
The search in PubMed with the keyword “zolpidem” yielded 729 articles published from 2003 to 2011. Of these, 20 articles were written by Taiwanese author(s). There were 15 case reports and five clinical studies. Besides the symptoms of addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal, these papers describe complex behavioral disturbances, such as performance impairments, behavioral impairment with amnesia, sleepwalking, sleep-related eating disorder, and hallucination and sensory distortion.
We have summarized the case reports and clinical studies of zolpidem-related adverse effects published from Taiwan and reviewed concerns about zolpidem’s safety that international researchers have been voicing out in recent years. The incidence of those zolpidem-induced complex behaviors is similar to that found in Western countries. Clinicians should therefore use more antidepressants to treat the underlying diseases that present with insomnia (such as major depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder).
Insomnia: An Ignored Health Problem
2007, Primary Care - Clinics in Office Practice
Citation Excerpt :
Although risk factors have been identified, the causal relationships are not fully understood. Known associations for insomnia include older age [17–19], female gender [5,20], present or past psychiatric illness and psychological problems [19–21], multiple medical conditions [15,22], poor general health [22,23], increased health care use [22,23], lower quality of life and social relationships [24], socioeconomic status (marital separation, unemployment, poorer working conditions, and lower social status) [24], and memory and cognitive deficits [25–27]. Although sleep patterns change with age, the ability to sleep is not affected by age alone.
Insomnia is common in all age groups and impairs quality of life. Untreated insomnia can lead to, or cause worsening of, other health problems. Effective treatment is available. Behavioral approaches should be tried first with chronic insomnia, because they are effective with few adverse effects. A number of medicines are effective for insomnia, but providers need to be cautious with their use because they are expensive, have a number of adverse side effects, and their long-term use has not been studied.
On dopaminergic modulation of temporal information processing
1993, Biological Psychology
Temporal processing of durations in the range of seconds or more (i.e. time estimation) is cognitively mediated, whereas processing of brief durations in the range of milliseconds (i.e. time perception) appears to be beyond cognitive control and based on neural counting mechanisms. Although there is some evidence from animal and human studies suggesting that the internal timing mechanism underlying time perception is modulated by the effective level of brain dopamine, the findings are not conclusive. Therefore, the effects of pharmacologically induced changes in D₂ receptor activity on temporal information processing were evaluated. In a double-blind design, either 3 mg of haloperidol, 150 mg of remoxipride, or placebo were administered in a single oral dose. Performance on time estimation was significantly impaired by both haloperidol and remoxipride as compared with placebo. Both drugs obviously affected cognitive mechanisms underlying temporal processing of durations in the range of seconds. On the other hand, only haloperidol produced a significant decrease in performance on time perception as compared with placebo and remoxipride, whereas the remoxipride and placebo groups did not differ significantly. The differential effects of haloperidol and remoxipride on performance on time perception suggest that D₂ receptor activity in the basal ganglia may play a critical role in timing of brief durations in the range of milliseconds.
Oral benzodiazepines and conscious sedation: A review
1992, Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
A large number of benzodiazepines have been studied for use as sedatives and for their anxiolytic potential as premedicants for outpatient surgery. Potent, new, orally-administered drugs with short half-lives, rapid onset, and minimal residual effects have been developed. Dose-dependent amnesia is also produced by some of these agents. Advances in understanding receptor physiology have shed light on specific pharmacologic activities and aided the discovery of benzodiazepine antagonists with antidote properties. While these drugs have relatively low toxicity, dose-related oversedation remains a risk in susceptible patients, especially when combined with other sedatives.
Next-day memory impairment with triazolam use
1991, The Lancet
The prevalence, rate, and degree of memory impairment for next-day activities during a short, intermittent course of bedtime doses of triazolam, temazepam, and placebo were assessed in a double-blind parallel-group study. 5 of the 6 subjects in the triazolam group reported at least one episode of next-day memory impairment/amnesia, with a total of 12 episodes being reported for the 30 subject-drug nights (a rate of 40%). In the temazepam group there were no such episodes of memory impairment. Immediate and delayed recall were also tested and related to whether active drug or placebo had been taken the night before. Impairment of delayed recall was significantly and several times greater than that in the temazepam or placebo groups. Next-day memory impairment/amnesia after a bedtime dose of triazolam tended to increase with continued or intermittent drug use. Cognitive impairments associated with triazolam probably represent a spectrum of organic brain dysfunction, with memory impairment/amnesia and confusion being the commonest, and milder manifestations and hallucinations and delusions the more severe and less common, features.
Notes on human behavioural pharmacotoxicology
1988, Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
De Maio, Domenico: Notes on Human Behavioural Pharmacotoxicology. Prog. Neuro-Psychopharmacol. & Biol. Psychiat. 1988, $12$ : 33–40.
- 1.
  1. After 30 years of psychopharmacological therapy we are able to identify some aspects which can be referred to a “collateral behavioural effect”. The apparent rarity of this depends on the facility of confusing behavioural modifications (often $sine materia$ ), with patological ones (normaly of a physical nature).
- 2.
  2. Memory, learning, the ability of evoking, problems regarding reality, paradoxical reactions, “makefobic” behaviour, passivity and social and behavioural withdrawal, form part of the Human Behavioural Pharmacotoxicology.
- 3.
  3. This ought to deserve greater attention on the part both of research workers and health authorities.

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Effects of hypnotic drugs on memory

Abstract

Br. J. Anaesth.

Br. J. Anaesth.

Br. J. Anaesth.

Br. J. Anaesth.

Br. J. Anaesth.

Brit. J. Anaesth.

Physiol. Beh.

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior

Anesth. and Analg. (Cleve)

Anesth. and Analg. (Cleve)

Br. J. Anaesth.

Anesth. and Analg. (Cleve)

Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol.