FoundationalConceptsNeuroscience

A number of drugs are related to memory impairment during periods
of use. Most famous are perhaps the sedative-hypnotics. Alcohol,
benzodiazepines, and other sedative-hypnotic drugs can produce
temporary anterograde amnesia. An “alcoholic blackout” is the name
given to a state of intoxication in which the drinker is awake, moving
around, engaging in conversation, and so on, but then has no mem-
ory of the events the next day. Information apparently never made
it into LTM. (Heavy alcohol consumption over extended periods of
time is also associated with what may become permanent memory
impairment—a dementia—resulting from alcohol-related neurologi-
cal damage.)
One particular benzodiazepine, midazolam (Versed), is sometimes
given in conjunction with medical procedures in which the patient
is only partially anesthetized. The anterograde amnesic properties of
midazolam impair the person’s ability to remember any potentially
uncomfortable parts of the procedure. Benzodiazepines are frequently
prescribed to treat anxiety or help with sleep, and sometimes people
who take benzodiazepines on a regular basis complain of memory
impairment.
Nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics prescribed for insomnia, such as
zolpidem (Ambien), zaleplon (Sonata), and eszopiclone (Lunesta), can
also produce anterograde amnesia. There are even reports of people
engaging in strange or dangerous behaviors—such as cooking and eat-
ing in the middle of the night, or driving a car in their pajamas—with
no memory of the events when they are roused from this weird state
of consciousness. (Or, is it unconsciousness? That is, are individuals
in such a state even aware of what they are doing, or are they func-
tioning in an unaware robotic mode? It’s an interesting and important
distinction: conscious, meaning aware, but here not remembering—