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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Disrupting Reconsolidation of Fear Memory in Humans by a Noradrenergic β-Blocker
Published on: December 18, 2014
Stress-dependent impairment of passive-avoidance memory by propranolol or naloxone
Allen M Schneider1, Peter E Simson, Ranga K Atapattu
1Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081, United States. ASchnei1@Swarthmore.edu
Abstract:
Previous work has shown that the effect of opioid-receptor blockade on memory modulation is critically dependent upon the intensity of stress. The current study determined the effect of adrenergic-receptor blockade on memory modulation under varied levels of stress and then compared the effect of adrenergic-receptor blockade under intense stress to that of a) opioid-receptor blockade and b) concurrent opioid- and adrenergic-receptor blockade. In the first experiment, the β-adrenergic-receptor blocker propranolol impaired retention in the passive-avoidance procedure when administered immediately after exposure to intense stress (passive-avoidance training followed by swim stress) but not mild stress (passive-avoidance training alone). In the second experiment, while separate administration of either propranolol or the opioid-receptor blocker naloxone immediately after exposure to intense stress impaired retention, the combined administration of propranolol and naloxone failed to do so. These findings demonstrate that the effect of β-adrenergic-receptor blockade or opioid-receptor blockade on memory modulation in the passive-avoidance procedure is dependent upon the intensity of stress, and suggest that concurrent inactivation of endogenous adrenergic- and opioid-based memory modulation systems under stressful conditions is protective of memory.
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