--- title: The Cold Medicine That's Linked to Cognitive Problems description: A common kind of drug, anticholinergic medication, is linked to poorer cognition in older adults canonical: https://time.com/4297591/cold-medicine-memory-problems/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-18T15:11:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:49:44.953Z article:section: Health og:title: The Cold Medicine That's Linked to Cognitive Problems og:description: A common kind of drug, anticholinergic medication, is linked to poorer cognition in older adults og:url: https://time.com/4297591/cold-medicine-memory-problems/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c132b76e2a5ae11/6987789935ba6f1bc6c0659f/health-pills-prescription-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Health Prescription Pills og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Cold Medicine That's Linked to Cognitive Problems twitter:description: A common kind of drug, anticholinergic medication, is linked to poorer cognition in older adults twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c132b76e2a5ae11/6987789935ba6f1bc6c0659f/health-pills-prescription-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Cold Medicine That's Linked to Cognitive Problems > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 18, 2016 3:11 PM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 18, 2016 3:11 PM UTC A common kind of prescription and over-the-counter medication, including some cold medicines, has been linked to cognitive impairment in older adults, finds a [new study published in _JAMA Neurology_](http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2514553). Shannon Risacher, assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences at Indiana University School of Medicine and first author of the new paper, and her colleagues analyzed already existing data from 451 people around ages 70-75 who had normal brains. They examined the results of memory tests, MRI brain scans and other neuroimaging data—all while paying particular attention to people who said they took anticholinergic drugs. These include certain over-the-counter drugs, like Benadryl, Tylenol PM and Advil PM, according to the researcher, along with prescribed medications like some antidepressants, motion sickness medications and bladder control drugs. Anticholinergic drugs block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain. The researchers found that older people who regularly took at least one anticholinergic drug showed poorer cognition, lower brain volumes and less glucose metabolism in the whole brain and the temporal lobe, which is important for memory, than people who didn’t report taking this kind of medications. The link persisted even after the team controlled for the number of medications the people in the study were taking. Previous research has [linked anticholinergic medications to cognitive impairment and worsened memory](http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2091745), the paper points out. More research is needed to determine exactly how these effects might be linked to the drug, and what dosage and duration may be associated with brain changes. “I certainly wouldn’t advise my grandparents or even my parents to take these medications unless they have to,” says Risacher. Many anticholinergic drugs, like antihistamines and antidepressants, have alternatives. “I’d suggest that doctors monitor medications and their effects, and to use the lowest dose that’s effective.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4297591/cold-medicine-memory-problems/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4297591/cold-medicine-memory-problems/"},"headline":"The Cold Medicine That's Linked to Cognitive Problems","datePublished":"2016-04-18T15:11:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:49:44.953Z","description":"“I wouldn’t advise my parents to take these medications unless they have to”","url":"https://time.com/4297591/cold-medicine-memory-problems/","keywords":["medicine","Drugs","Prescription","Research","medication","prescription drugs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c132b76e2a5ae11/6987789935ba6f1bc6c0659f/health-pills-prescription-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c132b76e2a5ae11/6987789935ba6f1bc6c0659f/health-pills-prescription-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Health Prescription Pills","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Health Prescription Pills","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4297591/cold-medicine-memory-problems/","name":"The Cold Medicine That's Linked to Cognitive Problems"}}]}] ```