Losartan Effects on Emotion-memory Interaction

The Role of the Renin-angiotensin System in Emotion-memory Interactions

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a single dose of losartan (50 mg) can affect emotion-memory interaction in healthy humans and its underlying neural mechanisms.

Animal models and initial findings in humans suggest a role of the renin-angiotensin system in cognitive and emotional processes. Accumulating evidence demonstrates modulatory effects of the angiotensin antagonist losartan in the domains of memory and emotional processing. Against this background the present study aims to investigate the behavioral and neural effects of a single dose of losartan on emotional processing and emotion-memory integration in healthy subjects. In a double-blind, between-subject, placebo-controlled pharmaco-fMRI experiment, 60 male participants will be randomized to a single dose of losartan (50 mg) or placebo, and encode emotional pictures during fMRI (scheduled 90 minutes after drug administration). Then 24 hours post fMRI participants will finish a surprise recognition memory test to estimate the emotion effects on subsequent memory.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorders
• Right-handedness
• Normal or corrected-normal version

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of head injury
• Medical or psychiatric illness
• Hypertension
• General cardio-vascular alteration or diseases
• Allergy against medications
• Visual or motor impairments
• Claustrophobia
• Drug addiction
• Nicotine dependence
• FMRI contradictions