A systematic review of pharmacological effects on human aversive memory.
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews April 1, 2026 Yanfang Xia, Boris B Quednow, Dominik R Bach
A systematic review of 100 publications found that 36 pharmacological compounds have been tested for their effects on aversive memory in healthy humans. The most studied drugs were hydrocortisone, propranolol, and D-cycloserine. Solid evidence supports propranolol's impact on memory reconsolidation, while weak evidence suggests effects of several compounds on memory encoding, consolidation, or extinction. Fifteen compounds showed significant effects in single studies without replication. The review highlights the need for greater comparability across studies.