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Propranolol’s effects on the consolidation and reconsolidation of long-term emotional memory in healthy participants: a meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Background: Considering the pivotal role of negative emotional experiences in the development and persistence of mental disorders, interfering with the consolidation/reconsolidation of such experiences would open the door to a novel treatment approach in psychiatry. We conducted a meta-analysis on the experimental evidence regarding the capacity of the β-blocker propranolol to block the consolidation/reconsolidation of emotional memories in healthy adults. Methods: Selected studies consisted of randomized, double-blind experiments assessing long-term memory for emotional material in healthy adults and involved at least 1 propranolol and 1 placebo condition. We searched PsycInfo, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, PILOTS, Google Scholar and clinicaltrials.org for eligible studies from the period 1995–2012. Ten consolidation ( n = 259) and 8 reconsolidation ( n = 308) experiments met the inclusion criteria. We calculated effect sizes (Hedges g) using a random effects model. Results: Compared with placebo, propranolol given before memory consolidation reduced subsequent recall for negatively valenced stories, pictures and word lists (Hedges g = 0.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.14–0.74). Propranolol before reconsolidation also reduced subsequent recall for negatively valenced emotional words and the expression of cue-elicited fear responses (Hedges g = 0.56, 95% CI 0.13–1.00). Limitations: Limitations include the moderate number of studies examining the influence of propranolol on emotional memory consolidation and reconsolidation in healthy adults and the fact that most samples consisted entirely of young adults, which may limit the ecological validity of results. Conclusion: Propranolol shows promise in reducing subsequent memory for new or recalled emotional material in healthy adults. However, future studies will need to investigate whether more powerful idiosyncratic emotional memories can also be weakened and whether this weakening can bring about long-lasting symptomatic relief in clinical populations, such as patients with posttraumatic stress or other event-related disorders.
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“A review of available data suggests that tonic immobility, peritraumatic dissociation, and dissociative PTSD may be mediated by a shared neural network involving amygdala deactivation, absence of sympathetically mediated arousal symptoms (decreased skin conductance and an absence of heart rate increases), parasympathetic activation (a decrease in heart rate in some studies, presumably reflecting a”
From Fear and the Defense Cascade (2015) · cites this paper as [125]
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“Pharmacological agents used to treat anxiety disorders—benzodiazepines, clonidine, propranolol, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and dual serotonin and norephinephrine reuptake inhibitors—are thought to inhibit the amygdala and other limbic structures by acting on alpha, beta, GABA, or serotonin receptors in the amygdala, hypothalamus, or PAG.159–162”
From Fear and the Defense Cascade (2015) · cites this paper as [161]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Lonergan, M. H., Olivera-Figueroa, L. A., Pitman, R. K., & Brunet, A.
- Affiliations
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Canadian Science Publishing
- Published
- 2013-07
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 222-231
- ISSN
- 1180-4882 (ISSN-L)
- 1488-2434
- PMC
- PMC3692719
- OpenAlex
- W1996111172
- Cited by
- 237
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 5
- FWCI
- 1.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH062994)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- propranolol, beta-blockers, emotional memory consolidation, memory reconsolidation, long-term memory, negative emotional stimuli, fear expression, post-traumatic stress disorder, healthy adults
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Propranolol, Mental Recall, Retention, Psychology, Sex Characteristics, Memory, Long-Term
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