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PMID: 3083458 Published · ppublish English Clinical Trial Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Cognitive enhancement in Korsakoff's psychosis by clonidine: a comparison with L-dopa and ephedrine.

Psychopharmacology ·Vol. 88 ·No. 3 ·1986-00-00 ·Pages 374-80

Mair RG, McEntee WJ

Abstract

Each of three catecholamine agonist medications (clonidine, L-dopa, and ephedrine) and placebo were administered for 2-week trials to a group of amnesics with Korsakoff's psychosis following a double-blind, counterbalanced design. During the last 3 days of each treatment, patients were given a battery of neuropsychological tests to determine the effects of the drugs on memory and related cognitive processes. Only clonidine had a significant effect on measures of anterograde amnesia, and this response was restricted to the same psychometric measures that improved with clonidine in an earlier study (McEntee and Mair 1980). Each of the medications affected performance on some measures of attention. None of the treatments had any effect on measures of retrograde amnesia or digit-symbol substitution. There appears to be a significant negative correlation between the amnestic effects of clonidine and the concentration of the primary noradrenergic metabolite in lumbar CSF (as measured prior to the initial drug trial).

MeSH Terms
Alcohol Amnestic Disorder/drug therapy Attention/drug effects Biogenic Amines/cerebrospinal fluid Brain Chemistry/drug effects Clonidine/therapeutic use Cognition Disorders/drug therapy Ephedrine/therapeutic use Humans Levodopa/therapeutic use Male Memory/drug effects Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol/cerebrospinal fluid Perception/drug effects Psychomotor Performance/drug effects
Chemicals
Biogenic Amines Levodopa Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol Ephedrine Clonidine
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Mair R G
McEntee W J
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Article Info
Journal
Psychopharmacology
Abbr.
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
ISSN
0033-3158
DOI
10.1007/BF00180841
Published
1986-00-00
Pages
374-80
Language
English
Region
Germany
NLM ID
7608025
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1007/BF00180841 View journal details
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