title: Cognitive enhancement following acute losartan in normotensive young adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Losartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist (AIIA), is an antihypertensive that has previously been suggested to have cognitive-enhancing potential for older adults. The objective indices for such effects are equivocal, however, and if these drugs do offer dual advantages of hypertension control plus cognitive-enhancing potential, there exists a clear need to establish this directly.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This work examines the potential of losartan administered as a single dose to healthy young adults to improve cognitive performance alone or to reverse scopolamine-induced cognitive decrements.
  
  
  METHODS
  In two placebo-controlled, double-blind studies, participants completed a cognitive test battery once before and once after drug absorption. In experiment 1, participants were randomly allocated to receive placebo, losartan 50 mg or losartan 100 mg. In experiment 2, participants were randomly allocated to one of four treatment groups: placebo/placebo, placebo/scopolamine, losartan/scopolamine and losartan/placebo (50 mg losartan p.o. and 1.2 mg scopolamine hydrochloride p.o.).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Losartan 50 mg improved performance on a task of prospective memory when administered alone and reversed the detrimental effects of scopolamine both in a standard lexical decision paradigm (p < 0.01) and when the task incorporated a prospective memory component (p < 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings highlight a cognitive-enhancing potential for losartan on compromised cognitive systems and emphasise the potential of AIIAs to produce benefits over and above hypertension control.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN19QH, UK.
authors.forename: Rasha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mechaeil
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gard
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rusted
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D047228:Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019808:Losartan / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012601:Scopolamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D047228:Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D012601:Scopolamine; D019808:Losartan