title: Prereactivation propranolol fails to reduce skin conductance reactivity to prepared fear-conditioned stimuli.
abstract: Pharmacologic blockade of memory reconsolidation has been demonstrated in fear-conditioned rodents and humans and may provide a means to reduce fearfulness in anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder. Studying the efficacy of potential interventions in clinical populations is challenging, creating a need for paradigms within which candidate reconsolidation-blocking interventions can be readily tested. We used videos of biologically prepared conditioned stimuli (tarantulas) to test the efficacy of propranolol in blocking reconsolidation of conditioned fear in healthy young adults. Strong differential conditioning, measured by skin conductance, was observed among a screened subset of participants during acquisition. However, subsequent propranolol failed to reduce reactivity to the reactivated conditioned stimulus. These results are consistent with other recent findings and point to a need for testing other candidate drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Justin D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Spring
authors.forename: Nellie E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mueller-Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Mohammed R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Milad
authors.forename: Roger K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Pitman
authors.forename: Scott P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Orr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000328:Adult; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects*; D003463:Cues; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D011433:Propranolol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D011433:Propranolol
keywords: Fear conditioning; Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Propranolol; Reconsolidation; Skin conductance