Effects of buspirone and alprazolam on the cognitive performance of normal elderly subjects
Article Abstract:
In the United States, benzodiazepines (tranquilizers) have been an important class of drugs for the management of anxiety. Unfortunately they can produce side effects such as decreased reaction time to environmental stimuli and reduced ability to pay attention to tasks. Recent studies have confirmed that psychomotor speed and memory/learning are most likely to be affected by benzodiazepines. Speed has been assessed using card sorting, simulated driving, and maze performance tasks, and memory and learning have been tested by the presentation of new material after administration of a drug. Performance is significantly lessened in all cases. Although little is known about the mechanisms that impair memory, the fact that retention appears normal for material learned before drug administration suggests that retrieval processes may be relatively unaffected. To increase understanding of the potential in elderly persons for disability related to behavioral side effects of medication given for anxiety, cognitive (memory/learning) and psychomotor (speed) effects of doses of buspirone, a non-benzodiazepine, and alprazolam, a benzodiazepine, were examined in healthy elderly subjects. Sixty subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. After two days, subjects were given one of the drugs or a placebo (sugar pill) for 14 days. Behavioral assessment was conducted one day before medication was begun. Tests included recall memory for word lists, retention of pictures over one hour, and a questionnaire asking subjects about their mood. Results showed that buspirone did not affect reaction time, speed, or memory function. Alprazolam had minimal effects. Because patients were carefully screened it is unclear whether these medications in the doses used would have more side effects in less healthy elderly patients. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: American Journal of Psychiatry
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0002-953X
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Buspirone: sedative or stimulant effect?
Article Abstract:
Buspirone is an antianxiety drug which differs from other anxiolytic medication in its mechanism of action. It does not impair movement and reaction skills or cognitive functioning. Buspirone has also been reported not to be addictive, as previous studies have not observed withdrawal complications in patients when the medication is stopped. Headache, nervousness, dizziness, lightheadedness, drowsiness, weakness, nausea, vomiting and insomnia are among some known side effects. The evaluation of insomnia in patients taking buspirone is important because many who take anxiolytic drugs also have sleep disturbances. There is currently a search for an anxiolytic drug without this side effect. The present study evaluated the effects of initial and continued administration of buspirone (10 milligrams per day) at bedtime on insomniac subjects. Subjects were six insomniacs with at least a six-month history of the disorder. They were monitored in a sleep laboratory for 16 consecutive nights, which included four nights of adjustment to the environment and baseline data collection, seven nights of drug administration and data collection, and five nights of data collection after the drug was withdrawn. Overall reports of side effects were minimal, but time spent awake after initial sleep onset increased by 95.2 percent after the first night of drug administration and continued to increase, but to a lesser degree, on the following nights. During initial withdrawal of the drug, wake time after sleep onset returned to baseline levels, but increased slightly after a few days. The net effect was an increase in wake time after sleep onset while taking the drug, which was maintained to a lessor degree after the drug was withdrawn. These results suggest that buspirone does not have a sedative effect and may act as a stimulant. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: American Journal of Psychiatry
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0002-953X
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Relation of psychopathology in general medical inpatients to use and cost of services
Article Abstract:
Research studies have indicated that patients with mental illness utilize medical care services more frequently than those without mental disorders. This leads to an increase in medical costs, which might possibly be reduced if these patients could be treated more effectively for their psychopathology. A prospective analysis was performed on patients admitted to a hospital for general medical services between July 1987 and February 1988. The patients, which totaled 455 after some were excluded, were screened for anxiety, depression, cognitive dysfunction (confusion), and pain. Standardized psychiatric diagnoses were not used, and only certain symptoms were considered to provide a simple and fast screening method for medical personnel to use. More than half of the patients had a high level of pain or a mental disorder. This group had an average hospital stay which was 40 percent longer and 35 percent more costly than the hospital stay of patients with low levels of pain or psychopathology. In addition, more procedures were performed on the patients with much pain or psychopathology while in the hospital, and upon discharge these patients had more diagnoses. No significant differences were found that were related to patient age, sex, race, weight or diagnosis. Among the 455 patients, substantial amounts of mental distress where found. Using the Medical Inpatient Screening Test, 28 percent were very depressed, 28 percent were very anxious, 20 percent had cognitive dysfunction, and 9 percent had high levels of pain. These results indicate that psychiatric intervention prior to hospitalization may benefit a substantial number of individuals and reduce medical costs. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: American Journal of Psychiatry
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0002-953X
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Interactions of task and subject variables among continuous performance tests. Quantifying ADHD classroom inattentiveness, its moderators, and variability: a meta-analytic review
- Abstracts: Effect of ambiguity and lexical availability on syntactic and lexical production. Do phonological representations specify variables? Evidence from the obligatory contour principle
- Abstracts: Personality and ability predictors of training performance for flight attendants. Myths and politics in organizational contexts
- Abstracts: Emergence and resolution of ambivalence in expectant mothers. Self-mutilation in a new mother: a strategy for separating from her infant
- Abstracts: Hypnotizability, preference for an imagic cognitive style, and memory creation in hypnosis. Hypnotizability and automaticity: toward a parallel distributed processing model of hypnotic responding