Clinical Trial: Memory Modulation by Pain During Sedation

Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Interventional




Official Title: Modulation of Long-term Memory by the Experience of Pain During Sedation With Midazolam and Dexmedetomidine

Brief Summary: The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of pain on facilitating long-term auditory memory in the presence and absence of two distinct intravenous anesthetics. The ability to identify previously presented words from a list will asses the degree of memory formation. In a subset of subjects, functional magnetic resonance imaging will be used to identify the neural correlates of memory inhibition or facilitation by the combination of pain and anesthetic used. The primary hypothesis is that pain will enhance memory formation, and that this will be mediated by additional neural pathways compared to those used to encode words not paired with pain. The study will occur over 4-5 visits and involves no long-term follow.