Twenty participants with self-reported long-term benzodiazepine use
(mean 108 months) who had previously withdrawn from medication (mean 42
months) were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests. Each
long-term user was case matched for age, sex, and education to two control
participants who reported never taking benzodiazepines (those with and
those without anxiety). The results indicated that long-term
benzodiazepine use may lead to impairments in the areas of verbal memory,
motor control/performance, and nonverbal memory but not visuospatial
skills and attention/concentration. The length of abstinence (> 6
months) indicates that these impairments persist well beyond cessation of
benzodiazepine use. However, observed impairments in the area of nonverbal
memory were not solely attributable to benzodiazepine use and may be
influenced by the elevated anxiety levels present in both the case and the
anxious control group. (JINS, 2005, 11,
281–289.)