Emotion-Induced Retrograde Amnesia Varies As a Function of Noradrenergic-Glucocorticoid Activity
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Psychopharmacology (2007) 194:261–269 DOI 10.1007/s00213-007-0836-6 ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION Emotion-induced retrograde amnesia varies as a function of noradrenergic-glucocorticoid activity René Hurlemann & Andreas Matusch & Barbara Hawellek & Dietrich Klingmuller & Heike Kolsch & Wolfgang Maier & Raymond J. Dolan Received: 25 March 2007 /Accepted: 21 May 2007 /Published online: 24 June 2007 # Springer-Verlag 2007 Abstract presence or absence of the norepinephrine-reuptake inhib- Rationale Privileged episodic encoding of an aversive itor reboxetine (4 mg p.o.). event often comes at a cost of neutral events flanking the Results Under dual challenge conditions, we observed a aversive event, resulting in decreased episodic memory for linear dose–response relationship in the magnitude and these neutral events. This peri-emotional amnesia is duration of emotion-induced retrograde amnesia. amygdala-dependent and varies as a function of norepi- Conclusions Our results are consistent with a phenotypic nephrine activity. However, less is known about the expression of retrograde amnesia varying as a function of amnesiogenic potential of cortisol. norepinephrine and cortisol coactivation during episodic Objective We used a strategy of pharmacologically potenti- encoding of aversive events. Our study demonstrates that the ating cortisol and norepinephrine activity to probe the putative adverse cognitive and behavioral sequelae of aversive neurochemical substrates of peri-emotional amnesia. emotion can be experimentally modeled by a pharmacolog- Materials and methods Fifty-four healthy individuals par- ical manipulation of its putative neurochemical substrates. ticipated in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. Within the experimental context of an established Keywords Emotion . Amnesia . Memory. Stress . Cortisol . peri-emotional amnesia paradigm, we tested the amnesio- Norepinephrine . Reboxetine genic potential of hydrocortisone (30 mg p.o.) in the Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of Introduction this article (doi:10.1007/s00213-007-0836-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Although abundant scientific evidence confirms anecdotal * : : : R. Hurlemann ( ) B. Hawellek H. Kolsch W. Maier observations that emotion enhances episodic memory Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, formation (Dolan 2002), it is also evident that emotion 53105 Bonn, Germany impairs episodic memory formation and can even induce e-mail: [email protected] amnesia (Loftus and Burns 1982; Christianson 1984). Thus, to advance our understanding of the interaction of emotion D. Klingmuller Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Division of Endocrinology, and episodic memory formation, it is important to address University of Bonn, how emotion corrupts episodic memory formation. 53105 Bonn, Germany Experimentally, emotion-induced amnesia can be modeled by oddball paradigms where privileged encoding of an R. Hurlemann : A. Matusch Brain Imaging Center West, Research Center Juelich, emotional oddball into episodic memory (the emotional von 52425 Juelich, Germany Restorff effect; von Restorff 1933; Wallace 1965)disrupts encoding of preceding and following neutral stimuli R. J. Dolan (Tulving 1969;Detterman1975;Angelinietal.1994), Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, particularly if the oddball is aversive (Strange et al. 2003; London WC1N 3BG, UK Hurlemann et al. 2005). One hypothesis is that aversive 262 Psychopharmacology (2007) 194:261–269 emotion interferes with episodic encoding by activating an 1.8 years) provided written informed consent to this study, ensemble of neurochemical responses related to acute stress which was approved by the local ethics committee and the (de Kloet et al. 2005). Support for this hypothesis comes German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices. from pharmacological and lesion evidence that the emotional Individuals who met any one of the following exclusion von Restorff effect—and the peri-emotional amnesia driven criteria were not enrolled in the study: previous exposure to by this effect—both depend on locus coeruleus (LC)-nor- the oddball memory test used in this study, current or past epinephrine (NE) input to the basolateral amygdala (BLA; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IVaxis Strange et al. 2003; Hurlemann et al. 2006), which modulates I or axis II disorder, physical illness, and night shift work, as hippocampal function during encoding (Strange and Dolan assessed by an experienced clinician. All subjects were 2004; van Stegeren et al. 2005) and consolidation (Cahill et nonsmokers and free of any medication apart from contra- al. 1994, 1995) of emotional episodic memories. Peri-emo- ceptive pills (23 women). Psychological screening before tional amnesia is amplified by the NE reuptake inhibitor study enrollment included the Verbaler Lern- und Merkfä- reboxetine and suppressed by the nonselective β-adrenergic higkeitstest (Helmstaedter et al. 2001), a German version of antagonist propranolol, underscoring its susceptibility to exper- the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, to assess immediate imental changes in central NE tone (Hurlemann et al. 2005). verbal learning span, new learning, susceptibility to interfer- In addition, acute stress activates the hypothalamic- ence, and recognition memory. The Rey-Osterrieth Complex pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Central concentrations of Figure Test (Rey 1941; Osterrieth 1944) was used to test adrenal cortisol (CORT) rise to peak stress levels within incidental visual memory and the visuospatial constructional 15–30 min and normalize to prestress levels 60–90 min ability. Motor speed and visual attention were examined with later (de Kloet et al. 2005). Stress levels of CORT appear to the Trail Making Test (Raitan 1958). All volunteers impair hippocampal function during retrieval (de Quervain performed within the normal to above-normal range of the et al. 1998, 2000; Roozendaal et al. 2004; Kuhlmann et al. psychological screening instruments (data not shown). Mean 2005; Cai et al. 2006; Soravia et al. 2006) but to enhance verbal IQ was 106.88±9.70 (90–122) as determined with the amygdala function during encoding (Cahill et al. 2003) and Hamburg-Wechsler Intelligenztest für Erwachsene, a German consolidation (Buchanan and Lovallo 2001; Roozendaal Version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised 2002; Abercrombie et al. 2003; Okuda et al. 2004)of (Tewes 1991). emotional episodic memories. This profile suggests a synergistic effect of CORT and NE coactivation in Oddball memory test Stimulus setup and experimental task stimulating amygdala–hippocampal interactions expressed have been detailed elsewhere (Hurlemann et al. 2005). As during emotional episodic memory formation (Nathan et al. illustrated in Fig. 1a, the paradigm was restricted to the 2004; van Stegeren et al. 2007). Moreover, pharmacolog- presentation of emotionally neutral (P) and negative (E) ical manipulations in rodents indicate that emotional oddballs. In total, subjects were exposed to 24 study– arousal-evoked NE input to the BLA is essential for distraction–test sequences over 45 min. Episodic memory enabling CORT enhancement of memory formation was tested by free recall. Recall profiles were pooled (Quirarte et al. 1997; Roozendaal et al. 2006). according to the two oddball categories, thus yielding a Given this empirical background, we hypothesized that neutral and a negative condition. As outcome parameter, amnesia in response to aversive emotion would exacerbate memory performance was determined condition-wise by under conditions of elevated CORT and NE availability. To calculating the percentage of correct recall (i.e., the output/ prove this hypothesis, we devised a randomized double-blind input ratio) for the following five list positions: oddball, placebo-controlled trial where healthy volunteers were admin- oddball±1, and oddball±2. Additionally, a standard item istered a single oral dose of synthetic CORT (hydrocortisone) score (SI) based on the seven non-oddball list positions was on top of either placebo or reboxetine pretreatment and tested calculated for each condition (e.g., SIp). Contrasting the on the established behavioral indices of peri-emotional negative condition with the neutral condition yielded amnesia (Hurlemann et al. 2005). The rationale of these relative recall changes for each list position and thus pharmacological manipulations was to induce stress levels of allowed us to isolate retrograde and anterograde effects of CORT and determine its amnesiogenic potential in the negative emotion on two adjacent standard items (E±1 and presence or absence of elevated NE availability. E±2) corresponding to a maximum time window of ±10 sec. To assess potential pharmacological effects on the cognitive appraisal of emotion, all volunteers performed Materials and methods valence and arousal ratings to P and E oddballs on a 9-point scale after the oddball memory test. Volunteers Fifty-seven right-handed subjects (28 men and 29 Whereas our previous paradigm was designed to women; age range, 20.6–29.3 years; mean age 25.3± demonstrate a causal link between the emotional von Psychopharmacology (2007) 194:261–269 263 Fig. 1 Experimental design. a Oddball memory test. Subjects were Subjects (n=54) were administered two capsules, the first at 08:30 h exposed to 24 study–distraction–test sequences. During each 40-s (t=−120 min) and the second at 09:30