A Vasopressin molecule Vasopressin Animal research Early research pointed to vasopressin as a potential treatment for improving the memory of patients living with<unk>  <unk> . Lysine vasopressin, a modified form of the vasopressin molecule, had positive effects on memory when administered by injection to patients with amnesia resulting from<unk>  brain injury and Korsakoff's syndrome. Subsequent animal studies with rats found similar results, particularly in aversion and avoidance learning tasks. Rats lacking adequate vasopressin, either due to genetic defect or hypophysectomy (surgical removal of the pituitary gland), exhibited significant improvements in memory and learning functions when exogenous vasopressin was administered. Particularly encouraging was the finding that a short treatment period produced long-lasting improvements, in both humans and rats. However, the animal models of<unk>  are highly limited, as the dimension of self-awareness and orientation is almost impossible to model adequately.<unk>  in animals, especially rats, is often observed<unk> -trauma (commonly<unk> -surgery), but it is often only measured in terms of impaired learning or unusual behavior. Human studies One subsequent human study found no effects of vasopressin on memory. The nonsignificant results were attributed to the study's many potential flaws, particularly its small sample size, the inability of vasopressin to penetrate the blood brain barrier when administered as a nasal spray, inadequate dosing and differences in severity of head injury between the samples. However, Eames et al. (1999) found statistically significant improvements on several tests of memory with the use of a vasopressin nasal spray, with no reported ill effects. Although the degree of improvement was mild, and it could be attributed to numerous other factors of the rehabilitative program, the lack of any ill effects suggests that vasopressin is, at the least, a possible enhancement for a treatment regimen. Norepinephrine agonists Diaschisis, as mentioned earlier, has been linked to the mechanism of<unk> . The noradrenergic systems may play a role in diaschisis. Norepinephrine, also known as noradrenalin, is a catecholamine neurotransmitter. Administering a norepinephrine receptor agonist (a substance that initiates a cell response when it binds with a receptor) to patients promoted the recovery of memory and many other cognitive functions after a<unk>  brain injury. Conversely, the administration of norepinephrine antagonists slowed recovery, and could lead to the reinstatement of deficits when administered after recovery. Noradrenergic antagonists were not prescribed for the purposes of slowing the recovery of memory. Rather, these findings are based on the effects of other commonly prescribed drugs that happen to block noradrenergic receptors. The alpha-1 adrenergic receptor is specifically implicated. Although it has not yet been thoroughly investigated, there is potential for stimulants, which promote catecholamine release, to be an effective treatment in the early stages of recovery from brain trauma, and these positive effects could reduce the symptoms of<unk> .
Post-traumatic amnesia
Excited delirium
Drug-induced amnesia
Childhood amnesia
Transient global amnesia
Memory distrust syndrome
Psychogenic amnesia
Emergence delirium