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Journal of Psychopharmacology
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Noradrenergic blockade and numeric working memory in humans

Ulrich Müller

Department of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Germany, and Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, um207{at}cam.ac.uk

Elisabeth Mottweiler

Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany

Peter Bublak

Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany

To investigate the noradrenergic modulation of working memory in humans single doses of two ß-blockers [either 25 mg of propranolol (lipophilic) or 50 mg of atenolol (hydrophilic)] or placebo were administered to young healthy volunteers (16 subjects per drug condition) performing a numerical working memory task that requires either short-term maintenance or maintenance plus manipulation of visually presented four-number sequences. Higher manipulation costs (i.e. process-specific slowing of reaction times in the manipulation conditions compared to the control condition) were observed after propranolol but not after atenolol. The propranolol effect was mainly observed in subjects with low emotional arousal (i.e. low state anxiety rating at baseline). Because both ß-blockers induced a comparable decrease of blood pressure and pulse, the propranolol effect on the ‘working component’ of working memory is considered to be a central, presumably prefrontal one.

Key Words: anxiety • atenolol • ß-blocker • prefrontal • propranolol • working memory

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 19, No. 1, 21-28 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881105048888
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