Beneficial effect of nadolol on anxiety-induced disturbances of performance in musicians: a comparison with diazepam and placebo.

The effects of 40 mg nadolol versus 2 mg diazepam on performance anxiety of 33 young music students were determined. The study had a double-blind, crossover design and was placebo controlled. Nadolol attenuated the rise in pulse rate caused by anxiety and improved those aspects of string playing that can be adversely affected by tremor. There was also a tendency for other functions requiring coordination and judgment to improve. No effect on anxiety was noted for nadolol or for 2 mg diazepam. Diazepam, however, did cause some minor deterioration of performance that was not related to anxiety change. These findings, taken with others, suggest that beta-adrenoceptor-blocking drugs such as nadolol have an important role in the correction of anxiety-induced disturbances of performance. Indeed, their use under such circumstances probably is preferable to that of the benzodiazepines.