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Scopolamine and lorazepam exert different patterns of effects in a test battery assessing stages of information processing

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Abstract

The effects of a single dose of scopolamine (0.5 mg) SC and of lorazepam (2.5 mg) PO were tested in two independent studies for their effects on performance in a psychometric battery which measured functions related to different stages of information processing. Attention and vigilance were measured by a continuous attention task and a vigilance task, respectively. Working memory and reasoning were evaluated by the rapid information processing and logical reasoning task; memory acquisition and storage were measured by pre- and post-drug immediate and delayed recall using visual material. The following pattern of effects was revealed: both scopolamine and lorazepam impaired performance in attentional and vigilance tasks as well as in the rapid information processing task significantly (P<0.05) when compared with their own placebo; in the logical reasoning task lorazepam significantly prolonged the time required to solve a problem; scopolamine did not have any effect on this task. Scopolamine impaired performance in the immediate recall but left delayed recall unaffected; lorazepam impaired only delayed recall, immediate recall remaining unaffected. These data suggest that scopolamine at this dose impaired mostly attention and early stages of information processes; lorazepam at the dose tested impaired also the later acquisition and encoding aspects of memory.

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Author notes

  1. T. Duka

    Present address: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Sussex, BN1 9QN, Falmer, Brighton, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Laboratories Schering AG, D-13342, Berlin, Germany

    T. Duka, B. Redemann & B. Voet

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  1. T. Duka
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  2. B. Redemann
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  3. B. Voet
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This article is part of the Doctoral Thesis of B. Redemann

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Duka, T., Redemann, B. & Voet, B. Scopolamine and lorazepam exert different patterns of effects in a test battery assessing stages of information processing. Psychopharmacology 119, 315–324 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02246298

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02246298

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