Lorazepam, oral

Anterograde llmnesia Intravenous administration of benzodiazepines has been shown to cause dose-related anterograde amnesia. It has been presumed that these amnesic effects are negligible when low oral doses are given. A modified version of the Williams Word Memory Task was used to investigate memory impairment in 12 healthy, young, male volunteers who were randomised to a single oral dose of lorazepam 2mg (6 patients) Or placebo (6). Lorazepam had no significant effect on immediate recall at any test session during the 24-hour study time. Under delayed recall conditions (8 and 24 hours after test dosing), subjects on lorazepam recalled significantly fewer words than placebo patients. Thus, there may be some amnesia associated with the daytime administration of oral lonuepam. Further studies are needed to evaluate the relationship of drug blood levels to amnesia, and the duration of this amnestic effect. Scharf, M.B, et al.: Jo~mal of Clinical Psychiatry 44: 362 (Oct 1983)

6 Reactions 9 Dec 1983 0157·7271/83/1209·000610$01.00/0 ~ ADIS Press