title: Benzodiazepines and memory.
abstract: Benzodiazepines possess anterograde amnesic properties, disrupting both short-term and long-term memory function. The amount of amnesia is systematically related to dose effects and half-life differences among the benzodiazepines. Memory deficits are found for episodic, semantic, and iconic memory function. The deficits in long-term memory are probably the result of a disruption of consolidation of information in memory and not retrieval from memory. The disruption is produced by rapid sleep onset. Thus the long-term amnesia is really a retrograde effect of sleep and not the anterograde effect of the drug.
mesh_terms: D000647:Amnesia / Q000139:chemically induced; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines