Prereactivation propranolol fails to reduce skin conductance reactivity to prepared fear-conditioned stimuli.
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.
['Spring|Justin D|JD|', 'Wood|Nellie E|NE|', 'Mueller-Pfeiffer|Christoph|C|', 'Milad|Mohammed R|MR|', 'Pitman|Roger K|RK|', 'Orr|Scott P|SP|']
D000293:Adolescent D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists D000328:Adult D003213:Conditioning, Psychological D003463:Cues D005239:Fear D005260:Female D005712:Galvanic Skin Response D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008568:Memory D011433:Propranolol D055815:Young Adult
Propranolol Skin conductance Reconsolidation Fear conditioning Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)