Abstract:
Benzodiazepines are commonly used drugs to treat anxiety in crime witnesses. These increase GABA inhibitory effects, which impairs aversive memory encoding and consolidation. Eyewitness memory is essential in justice. However, memory is malleable leading to false memories that could cause a selection of an innocent in a lineup. Here, we studied whether a low dose of Clonazepam impairs memory encoding as well as consolidation of faces and narrative of the event. We performed two experiments using a double-blind and between subject design (N = 216). Day 1: subjects watched a crime video and received Clonazepam 0.25 mg (CLZ group) or placebo (PLC group) before (Exp. 1) or after the video (Exp. 2) to assess the effect on encoding and consolidation. One week later, the memory was assessed using a present and absent target lineup and asking for a free recall. Regarding encoding, we found that in the CLZ group memory was impaired in the free recall task, while no differences were found for recognition memory. Regarding consolidation, we did not observe memory measures that were affected by this dose of benzodiazepines. The results suggest that while some aspects of eyewitness memory could be modulated even with low doses of benzodiazepine, others could not be affected. More studies should be performed with higher doses of CLZ similar to those administered in real life. These results are relevant in the judicial field to assess the reliability of the eyewitness elections under the effects of this drug.
摘要:
苯二氮卓类药物是治疗犯罪证人焦虑的常用药物。这些增加GABA的抑制作用,这损害了令人厌恶的记忆编码和整合。证人记忆在正义中是必不可少的。然而,记忆是有延展性的,导致错误的记忆,可能导致在阵容中选择一个无辜的人。这里,我们研究了低剂量氯硝西泮是否会损害记忆编码以及面部巩固和事件叙述.我们使用双盲和受试者设计之间进行了两个实验(N=216)。第1天:受试者观看犯罪视频,并在之前接受氯硝西泮0.25mg(CLZ组)或安慰剂(PLC组)(Exp.1)或视频之后(Exp。2)评估对编码和合并的影响。一周后,使用存在和不存在的目标阵容并要求免费回忆来评估记忆。关于编码,我们发现在CLZ组中,在自由回忆任务中记忆受损,而识别记忆没有发现差异。关于合并,我们没有观察到受该剂量苯二氮卓类药物影响的记忆指标.结果表明,即使低剂量的苯二氮卓类药物也可以调节目击者记忆的某些方面,其他人不会受到影响。更多的研究应该用与现实生活中类似的更高剂量的CLZ进行。这些结果与司法领域有关,以评估在这种药物作用下目击者选举的可靠性。