How a blood pressure medication affects emotional learning in teenagers

Researchers want to understand how a medication called losartan affects the way teenagers' brains process emotions and learn from fearful situations. Losartan is a blood pressure drug that has shown promise in adults for improving how the brain handles fear and anxiety. This study will give healthy teenagers a single dose of losartan or a placebo, then measure how well they complete emotion-related tasks on a computer.

Teenagers are at higher risk for developing anxiety disorders than other age groups, and they often don't respond as well to standard anxiety treatments like exposure therapy. Early research suggests this medication may help improve the brain's ability to reduce fear and anxiety, which could eventually lead to better treatments for anxious teenagers.