EFFECTS OF DIAZEPAM ON ENCODING PROCESSES

Benzodiazepines are known to induce amnesic effects. To specify these effects more precisely, 40 healthy volunteers were given 15 mg diazepa m or placebo. Effects on a chain of encoding operations were investiga ted: activation of memory representations, spreading of activation, se mantic encoding and organizational processes. The diazepam group perfo rmed tasks consistently slower, although spreading of activation and s emantic encoding were not affected by diazepam. Rather, diazepam subje cts benefited less from opportunities to organize to-be-learned materi al. It is suggested that cognitive processes are slowed down after dia zepam intake. This may also have implications for the organization of to-be-learned material.