The purpose of this research study is to determine whether taking a one-time dose of a
combination of putatively learning-enhancing medications can improve treatment response to a
brief learning-based psychotherapy for public speaking anxiety. The two medications are (1)
d-cycloserine (DCS), a medication that is an agonist (facilitator) of the NMDA glutamatergic
receptor and has been shown in previous studies to facilitate some kinds of learning and
memory; and (2) mifepristone, a medication that blocks cortisol, and in preclinical (animal)
studies has been shown to reverse certain kinds of stress-related learning impairment or
negative learning.
Specifically, the investigators goal is to determine if DCS and mifepristone taken together
augment the learning that occurs during a brief psychotherapy session---a public speaking
exposure exercise. Evidence for this learning effect would be a finding that participants
have reduced anxiety at subsequent public speaking exposures.