Conditions: Treatment Placebo
Keywords: d-cycloserine geriatric neuropsychology cognition cognitive-enhancer aging neuropsychological functioning
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 51
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
The goal of this study is to determine whether a study medication (d-cycloserine) improves the ability of older adults to perform on tests of neuropsychological functioning. Tests of neuropsychological functioning assess attention, memory, and executive functioning skills (for example, problem-solving, planning and organizing skills). It was hypothesized that participants who received study medication would perform better on neuropsychological tests than would participants who received the sugar pill.

Detailed description:
Accumulating data support the augmenting effects of d-cycloserine (DCS) when combined with exposure-based treatment for anxiety disorders. Additional research is needed to determine whether DCS facilitates other forms of cognitive processing (e.g., attention, memory, executive functioning) that are involved in cognitive behavioral therapies which do not rely on extinction as a mechanism of action. This question is particularly important among older adults who have experienced normal age-related declines in cognitive functioning, which may interfere with their ability to benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapies. The aim of the current study was to determine the cognitive enhancing effects of DCS on neuropsychological test performance among healthy older adults. It was hypothesized that participants who received d-cycloserine would demonstrate superior performance on neuropsychological tests than would participants who received placebo.

Arms:
arm 1: 250 mg d-cycloserine arm 2: None

Interventions: intervention 1: d-cycloserine intervention 2: Sugar Pill
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: single oral administration of 250 mg d-cycloserine intervention 2: Single oral administration 250 mg Sugar Pill

Protocol document: