This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Joel E. Dimsdale, MD; Ruth P. Newton, PhD

Arch Intern Med. 1989;149(3):514-525.

Abstract
• Fifty-five studies of cognitive side effects of β-blockers were reviewed. Many of the studies were limited by small sample size, use of drugs out of the range of normal administration, failure to control for known confounders for neuropsychological evaluation, or lack of a crossover design. As a result, one needs caution in drawing conclusions on this topic. Nevertheless, given the widespread use of β-blockers and the frequent allegations about their relative side effect profiles, it is appropriate to summarize the results of these disparate studies. Across all β-blockers and all cognitive domains, the drugs led to improved functioning in 16% of observations and worsened functioning in 17%, with no significant effect in the rest. Memory, learning, and abstraction have been studied less frequently. The perceptual motor cognitive domain was the most widely studied and was frequently affected by these drugs. There was no consistent evidence of a trend for lipophilic drugs to impair this domain more than lipophobic drugs. There is some evidence that these drugs have a positive effect on complex task performance. The drugs also seem to increase sedation; however, in these studies there was no evidence for a differential effect across lipophilic vs lipophobic drugs.

(Arch Intern Med 1989;149:514-525)

Author Affiliations
Thomas Joist

From the Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla (Drs Dimsdale and Newton), and Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University of Bonn (West Germany) School of Medicine (Mr Joist).

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Oct 26, 1988.

Reprint requests to Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0804 (Dr Dimsdale).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Beta-blockers for hypertension: Are they going out of style?
CHE et al.
Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 2009;76:533-542.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Noradrenergic blockade and numeric working memory in humans
Muller et al.
J Psychopharmacol 2005;19:21-28.
ABSTRACT  

Neuropsychological Outcome After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention or Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: Results From the Stent or Surgery (SoS) Trial
Wahrborg et al.
Circulation 2004;110:3411-3417.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

An approach to drug induced delirium in the elderly
Alagiakrishnan and Wiens
Postgrad. Med. J. 2004;80:388-393.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Modulation of {beta}-adrenergic receptor subtype activities in perioperative medicine: mechanisms and sites of action
Zaugg et al.
Br J Anaesth 2002;88:101-123.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Cerebral Abnormalities and Neuropsychologic Test Performance in Elderly Hypertensive Subjects: A Case-Control Study
Schmidt et al.
Arch Neurol 1995;52:905-910.
ABSTRACT  

{beta}-Blockers, Dyslipidemia, and Coronary Artery Disease: A Reassessment
Burris
Arch Intern Med 1993;153:2085-2092.
ABSTRACT  

Atenolol Compared with Nifedipine: Effect on Cognitive Function and Mood in Elderly Hypertensive Patients
Skinner et al.
ANN INTERN MED 1992;116:615-623.
ABSTRACT  

{beta}-Blockers and Depression: Evidence Against an Association
Bright and Everitt
JAMA 1992;267:1783-1787.
ABSTRACT  

Reflections on the Impact of Antihypertensive Medications on Mood, Sedation, and Neuropsychologic Functioning
Dimsdale
Arch Intern Med 1992;152:35-39.
ABSTRACT  

Magnetic Resonance Imaging White Matter Lesions and Cognitive Impairment in Hypertensive Individuals
Schmidt et al.
Arch Neurol 1991;48:417-420.
ABSTRACT