Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:50:35.345Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effect of Beta Adrenergic Blocking Drugs on Speakers' Performance and Memory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

L R. Hartley ,
S. Ungapen ,
I. Davie  and
D. J. Spencer
L R. Hartley
Affiliation:
Murdoch University, West Australia 6160
S. Ungapen
Affiliation:
Heathcote Hospital, West Australia 6153
I. Davie
Affiliation:
Heathcote Hospital, West Australia 6153
D. J. Spencer
Affiliation:
Heathcote Hospital, West Australia 6153
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Propranolol 40 mg was compared with a matched placebo tablet in its effect on the performance of anxious and non-anxious human volunteers. Subjects were required to give a brief speech, which was video-taped and later rated by trained observers for signs of anxiety; propranolol clearly reduced rated anxiety in the non-verbal behaviour of anxious subjects, as well as the anxiety observed in the speech of the anxious compared to the non-anxious. It also affected self-reported anxiety in the anxious, and reduced the pulse rate of anxious and non-anxious alike. Subjects were also prompted, by being given the first letter, to recall both difficult and easy words, drawn from selected verbal categories; propranolol impaired recall of difficult items in the memory of anxious subjects. Results were interpreted as showing a central as well as peripheral role for propranolol in blocking adrenergic receptors' activity in anxiety.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 142 , Issue 5 , May 1983 , pp. 512 - 517
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Battig, W. & Montague, W. (1969) Category norms for verbal items in 56 categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Monograph 80, 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonn, J. A. & Turner, P. (1971) D-propranolol and anxiety. Lancet, i, 1355–6.Google Scholar
Bonn, J. A., Turner, P. & Hicks, D. C. (1972) Beta-adrenergic receptor blockade with practolol in treatment of anxiety. Lancet, 2, 814–15.Google Scholar
Cannon, W. A. (1919) Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage. New York: Appleton.Google Scholar
Eysenck, M. W. (1975) Effects of noise, activation level and response dominance on retrieval from semantic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 104, 143–8.Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. A., Stone, W. N. & Gleser, G. C. (1974) Peripheral versus central mechanisms accounting for anti-anxiety effects of propranolol. Psychosomatic Medicine, 36, 47–56.Google Scholar
Granville-Grossman, K. L. & Turner, P. (1966) The effect of propranolol on anxiety. Lancet, i, 788–90.Google Scholar
Hartley, L., Spencer, J. & Williamson, J. (1982) Anxiety, diazepam and retrieval from semantic memory. Psychopharmacology, (in press).Google Scholar
James, I. M., Griffiths, D. N. W., Pierson, R. M. & Newbury, P. (1977) Effect of oxprenolol in stage fright in musicians. Lancet, 2, 952–4.Google Scholar
James, W. (1884) What is emotion? Mind, 9, 188–200.Google Scholar
Liiden, S. & Gottfries, C. (1974) Beta-blocking agents in the treatment of catecholamine induced symptoms in musicians. Lancet, 2, 529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMillin, W. P. (1973) Oxprenolol in anxiety. Lancet, i, 1193.Google Scholar
Scriabine, A. (1979) Beta adrenoceptor blocking drugs in hypertension. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 19, 269–85.Google Scholar
Siitonen, L. & Janne, J. (1976) Effect of beta blockade during bowling competitions. Annals of Clinical Research, 8, 393–8.Google Scholar
Spielberger, C., Gorsuch, R. & Luschene, R. (1970) Manual from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. California: Consulting Psychologist Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, J. A. (1953) A personality scale of manifest anxiety. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48, 285–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turner, P., Granville-Grossman, K. L. & Smart, J. V. (1965) Effect of adrenergic receptor blockade on the tachycardia of thyrotoxicosis and anxiety state. Lancet, 2, 1316–18.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P. J. (1981) Beta-blocking drugs in psychiatry and neurology. Current Therapeutics, 22, 113–24.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P. J. & Lader, M. H. (1974) Response to propranolol and diazepam in somatic and psychic anxiety. British Medical Journal, 2, 14–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wheatley, D. (1969) Comparative effects of propranolol and chlordiazepoxide in anxiety states. British Journal of Psychiatry, 115, 1411–12.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.