We all know that drugs can get you high, and new findings presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting indicate that this is literally true in the case of D-cycloserine. A team from the Emory University School of Medicine revealed that this antibacterial drug, which is used to treat tuberculosis, has an intriguing side effect — it helps people to overcome their fear of heights.

The researchers, led by Michael Davis, subjected people with a fear of heights to a virtual reality experience that simulated a ride in a glass elevator. At the start of the experiment, most of the patients would only go up one or two floors. Both the treated and the control patients dared to go higher after repeated exposure to the task, but D-cycloserine seemed to accelerate their progress. Davis had previously tested the drug in rats, and he concluded that it “does not dissolve fear. But ... it helped them to unlearn fears faster” (Associated Press, 10 November 2003).

The patients' newly acquired courage translated into the real world too: “those who had taken the drug were twice as likely as those on the placebo to be going up in elevators, driving over high bridges and doing other things that fear of panic attacks had kept them from doing before the therapy” (Associated Press).

However, cognitive behavioural therapist David Kupfer believes that drugs are not necessarily the answer. He said “people [who go through therapy without medication] learn ... that they are the powerful agent of change, not the medication” (Associated Press). However, he conceded that the drug might benefit those who find behavioural therapy too unpleasant, and fear researcher Mark Barad agreed that “it's likely to make people more compliant” (Nature Science Update, 11 November).