Effects of diazepam on emotional processing in healthy volunteers

We are interested in how diazepam treatment affects the way in which participants process emotional information.

 After one week of diazepam, participants complete a number of behavioural computer-based tasks, and also have a brain scan using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This allows us to investigate the pattern of brain activity in response to emotional information. By comparing behavioural and neural responses between participants given diazepam and those given the placebo, we hope to understand how diazepam might exert its anxiolytic effects by altering the way in which emotional information is processed. We are also interested in whether the modulation of behavioural and neural responses by diazepam might be distinct from those seen after antidepressant treatment, as it seems likely that the two kinds of drugs have unique cognitive effects. 

Researchers: Abbie Pringle, Matthew Warren, Lizzie Parsons, Phil Cowen, Catherine Harmer