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The effects of diazepam on cognitive processing
Author(s) -
Golombok S.,
Mathews A.,
Macleod C.,
Lader M.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.470050206
Subject(s) - diazepam , cognition , anxiety , psychology , placebo , stressor , information processing , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , clinical psychology , medicine , cognitive psychology , psychiatry , alternative medicine , pathology
The study was designed to investigate the effects of diazepam on cognitive processing, and in particular to look at whether or not the drug reduces the bias towards the processing of threatening information shown by anxious subjects. Forty anxious female subjects were randomly and blindly allocated to two treatment groups; 10 mg diazepam or a placebo. Each subject was tested before and after treatment on a colour‐naming task designed to measure selective attention towards both stressor‐related and generally threatening material. It was found that the subjects showed a cognitive bias favouring the processing of threatening information, but that diazepam did not reduce this interference effect. This suggests that diazepam does not have a direct effect on cognitive aspects of anxiety.