Diazepam impairs behavioral inhibition but not delay discounting or risk taking in healthy adults.
Abstract
There are reports that diazepam can increase, decrease, or have no effect on measures of impulsive behavior, which may be related, in part, to differences among the tasks used to measure impulsivity. This study examined the effects of a relatively high dose of diazepam (20 mg) on 5 measures of impulsive behavior in healthy adult men and women. Volunteers (N = 18) participated in a 2-session double-blind randomized design in which they received 20 mg diazepam or placebo. One hour after ingesting the capsule, participants completed mood questionnaires and several impulsivity tasks to measure subtypes of impulsive behavior, including behavioral inhibition, delay and probability discounting, and risk taking. Diazepam impaired behavioral inhibition but had no effect on measures of discounting or risk taking. These results are discussed in the context of other recent findings suggesting that different behavioral indices of impulsivity are dissociable and governed by separate underlying mechanisms.
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Evidence from acute pharmacological interventions supports greater sensitivity of real-time tasks to manipulations likely to induce changes in state-impulsivity.
“Evidence from acute pharmacological interventions with psychomotor stimulants and suppressants supports the greater sensitivity of real-time tasks to manipulations likely to induce changes in state-impulsivity”
From DAT1 and COMT effects on delay discounting and trait impulsivity in male adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and healthy controls (2010) · cites this paper as Acheson et al, 2006
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- Authors
- Acheson, A., Reynolds, B., Richards, J. B., & de Wit, H.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- The Ohio State University (US)
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- Venue
- Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology
- Published
- 2006
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 190-198
- ISSN
- 1064-1297 (ISSN-L)
- 1936-2293
- OpenAlex
- W2067944699
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA09133; T32DA07255)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- diazepam, impulsivity, behavioral inhibition, delay discounting, probability discounting, risk-taking, benzodiazepines, mood, healthy adults
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Diazepam, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Middle Aged, Risk-Taking
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