Role of Attentional Processing in Mediating the Influence of Vasopressin on Memory Processing

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of attentional processing in mediating the influence of vasopressin (VP) on memory processing. Beckwith and colleagues designed several studies to examine the putative role of vasopressin in selective and/or divided attention, using both human and nonhuman animal subjects. The roles of the peptide in selective, and in divided, attention have been investigated. The human electrophysiological studies carried out by Fehm–Wolfsdorf and colleagues and by Timsit–Berthier and associates comprise the final line of VP/attentional processing research. The experiment protocols used by the researchers examined the effects of a single treatment with VP on performance in a variety of task paradigms. These tasks included concept shift discriminations, reaction time required to determine whether a given probe was in an original set of memorized digits, and recalling sentences or prose requiring attention to relevant information. Their experimental findings are consistent with the thesis that VP influences selective attention at various stages of cognitive processing, which in turn contributes to memory processing.