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2.
J Psychopharmacol ; 37(2): 172-180, 2023 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36515156

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Fatigue remains an important factor in major aviation accidents. Stimulants may counteract fatigue's adverse effects, with modafinil as a promising alternative to caffeine. However, the effect of a single dose of modafinil after a limited period of sleep deprivation remains unknown. AIMS: This study aims to determine the effect of 200 mg modafinil on vigilance during a limited period of sleep deprivation compared to 300 mg caffeine and placebo. METHODS: Thirty-two volunteers of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) were double-blindly administered modafinil, caffeine, and placebo on three non-consecutive trial days after being awake for median 17 h. Afterwards, subjects completed six series of the Vigilance and Tracking test (VigTrack), psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), and Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS), yielding six primary endpoints. RESULTS: This study revealed statistically significant effects of caffeine and modafinil compared with placebo on all endpoints, except for VigTrack mean tracking error. PVT results were less impaired 2 h after administration, followed by VigTrack parameters and SSS scores 2 h thereafter. Compared with caffeine, modafinil significantly improved PVT and SSS scores at 8 h after administration. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates that 200 mg modafinil and 300 mg caffeine significantly decrease the effects of a limited period of sleep deprivation on vigilance compared with placebo. Although PVT parameters already improved 2 h after administration, the most notable effects occurred 2-4 h later. Modafinil seems to be effective longer than caffeine, which is consistent with its longer half-life.


Subject(s)
Caffeine , Central Nervous System Stimulants , Humans , Modafinil/pharmacology , Wakefulness , Sleep Deprivation/drug therapy , Benzhydryl Compounds/adverse effects , Psychomotor Performance , Central Nervous System Stimulants/pharmacology , Fatigue/drug therapy , Sleepiness , Double-Blind Method
3.
Front Physiol ; 14: 1303758, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38260091

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Literature suggests pilots experience fatigue differently. So-called fatigue-resistant or -vulnerable individuals might also respond differently to countermeasures or stimulants. This study, which is part of a larger randomized controlled clinical trial, aims to investigate the effect of caffeine and modafinil on fatigue-resistant and -vulnerable pilots. Methods: This study included 32 healthy employees of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, who completed three test days, separated by at least 7 days. After a regular work day, the subjects were randomly administered either 300 mg caffeine, 200 mg modafinil or placebo at midnight. Hereafter the subjects performed the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT), vigilance and tracking test (VigTrack) and Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS) six times until 8 a.m. the next day. Subjects were ranked on the average number of lapses on the PVT during the placebo night and divided into three groups: fatigue-vulnerable (FVUL), -intermediate (FINT) and -resistant (FRES), with 11, 10 and 11 subjects in each group, respectively. Area under the curve (AUC) of the PVT, VigTrack and SSS during the test nights were calculated, which were used in univariate factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). Tukey's HSD post hoc tests were used to differentiate between the groups. Results: A significant effect of treatment was found in the ANOVA of both PVT parameters, VigTrack mean reaction time and SSS. There was a statistically significant effect of fatigue group on all PVT parameters and VigTrack mean percentage omissions, where FINT and FRES scored better than FVUL. There was a significant interaction effect between treatment and fatigue group for PVT number of lapses. This is congruent for the AUC analyses in which for all parameters (except for the SSS) the performance of the FVUL group was consistently worse than that of the FINT and FRES groups. Discussion: This study demonstrates that the performance of individuals with different fatigue tolerances are differently affected by simulants after a limited period of sleep deprivation. The classification of fatigue tolerance through PVT lapses when sleep deprived seems to be able to predict this.

4.
Front Physiol ; 12: 712628, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34552504

ABSTRACT

Fatigue poses an important safety risk to civil and military aviation. In addition to decreasing performance in-flight (chronic) fatigue has negative long-term health effects. Possible causes of fatigue include sleep loss, extended time awake, circadian phase irregularities and work load. Despite regulations limiting flight time and enabling optimal rostering, fatigue cannot be prevented completely. Especially in military operations, where limits may be extended due to operational necessities, it is impossible to rely solely on regulations to prevent fatigue. Fatigue management, consisting of preventive strategies and operational countermeasures, such as pre-flight naps and pharmaceuticals that either promote adequate sleep (hypnotics or chronobiotics) or enhance performance (stimulants), may be required to mitigate fatigue in challenging (military) aviation operations. This review describes the pathophysiology, epidemiology and effects of fatigue and its impact on aviation, as well as several aspects of fatigue management and recommendations for future research in this field.

5.
Psychopharmacology (Berl) ; 234(16): 2375-2384, 2017 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28429068

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: In the current study, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to investigate whether tobacco addiction biases basic visual processing in favour of smoking-related images. We hypothesize that the neural representation of smoking-related stimuli in the lateral occipital complex (LOC) is elevated after a period of nicotine deprivation compared to a satiated state, but that this is not the case for object categories unrelated to smoking. METHODS: Current smokers (≥10 cigarettes a day) underwent two fMRI scanning sessions: one after 10 h of nicotine abstinence and the other one after smoking ad libitum. Regional blood oxygenated level-dependent (BOLD) response was measured while participants were presented with 24 blocks of 8 colour-matched pictures of cigarettes, pencils or chairs. The functional data of 10 participants were analysed through a pattern classification approach. RESULTS: In bilateral LOC clusters, the classifier was able to discriminate between patterns of activity elicited by visually similar smoking-related (cigarettes) and neutral objects (pencils) above empirically estimated chance levels only during deprivation (mean = 61.0%, chance (permutations) = 50.0%, p = .01) but not during satiation (mean = 53.5%, chance (permutations) = 49.9%, ns.). For all other stimulus contrasts, there was no difference in discriminability between the deprived and satiated conditions. CONCLUSION: The discriminability between smoking and non-smoking visual objects was elevated in object-selective brain region LOC after a period of nicotine abstinence. This indicates that attention bias likely affects basic visual object processing.


Subject(s)
Attention/physiology , Cues , Nicotine/adverse effects , Smoking/drug therapy , Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/diagnostic imaging , Visual Cortex/diagnostic imaging , Adult , Brain Mapping , Female , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Proof of Concept Study , Smoking/physiopathology , Smoking/psychology , Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/physiopathology , Visual Cortex/physiopathology , Young Adult
7.
Handb Exp Pharmacol ; 228: 215-36, 2015.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25977084

ABSTRACT

Declarative Memory consists of memory for events (episodic memory) and facts (semantic memory). Methods to test declarative memory are key in investigating effects of potential cognition-enhancing substances--medicinal drugs or nutrients. A number of cognitive performance tests assessing declarative episodic memory tapping verbal learning, logical memory, pattern recognition memory, and paired associates learning are described. These tests have been used as outcome variables in 34 studies in humans that have been described in the literature in the past 10 years. Also, the use of episodic tests in animal research is discussed also in relation to the drug effects in these tasks. The results show that nutritional supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids has been investigated most abundantly and, in a number of cases, but not all, show indications of positive effects on declarative memory, more so in elderly than in young subjects. Studies investigating effects of registered anti-Alzheimer drugs, cholinesterase inhibitors in mild cognitive impairment, show positive and negative effects on declarative memory. Studies mainly carried out in healthy volunteers investigating the effects of acute dopamine stimulation indicate enhanced memory consolidation as manifested specifically by better delayed recall, especially at time points long after learning and more so when drug is administered after learning and if word lists are longer. The animal studies reveal a different picture with respect to the effects of different drugs on memory performance. This suggests that at least for episodic memory tasks, the translational value is rather poor. For the human studies, detailed parameters of the compositions of word lists for declarative memory tests are discussed and it is concluded that tailored adaptations of tests to fit the hypothesis under study, rather than "off-the-shelf" use of existing tests, are recommended.


Subject(s)
Brain/drug effects , Cognition Disorders/drug therapy , Cognition/drug effects , Memory Disorders/drug therapy , Memory/drug effects , Nootropic Agents/therapeutic use , Animals , Behavior, Animal/drug effects , Brain/metabolism , Brain/physiopathology , Cognition Disorders/diagnosis , Cognition Disorders/metabolism , Cognition Disorders/physiopathology , Cognition Disorders/psychology , Disease Models, Animal , Humans , Memory Disorders/diagnosis , Memory Disorders/metabolism , Memory Disorders/physiopathology , Memory Disorders/psychology , Neuropsychological Tests , Translational Research, Biomedical/methods
8.
Psychopharmacology (Berl) ; 232(11): 1887-97, 2015 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25466702

ABSTRACT

RATIONALE: Traditionally, the non-selective muscarinic antagonist scopolamine has been used to induce episodic memory impairments as found in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, it also impairs attention and induces drowsiness. Muscarinic antagonists more selective for the M1 receptor might, therefore, be preferred. OBJECTIVES: We examined the effects of the M1 antagonist biperiden on cognitive functions in order to test the specificity of this drug on memory performance. Additionally, we assessed whether the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor citalopram can reverse a possible biperiden-induced impairment. METHODS: The study was conducted according to a double-blind, placebo-controlled, four-way cross-over design. Sixteen volunteers received biperiden (2 mg), citalopram (20 mg), a combination of the two, or a placebo in counterbalanced order with a washout of at least 4 days. Cognitive tests (verbal memory, continuous recognition memory, spatial memory, choice reaction) were performed 4 and 1 h after treatment with citalopram and biperiden, respectively. RESULTS: Biperiden impaired memory performance in the verbal learning task, the continuous recognition memory test, and the spatial memory task. Effects on attention and side effects, as measured using the choice reaction time test and questionnaires respectively, could be neglected. Citalopram did not affect any of the memory or attention measures taken. Most importantly, citalopram was also unable to reverse the biperiden-induced memory impairments. CONCLUSIONS: Our results, thus, show that the M1 antagonist biperiden may serve as a translational model to induce episodic memory deficits as seen in AD. However, the interactive influence of acetylcholine and serotonin on memory could not be confirmed.


Subject(s)
Biperiden/toxicity , Citalopram/pharmacology , Memory Disorders/chemically induced , Adult , Alzheimer Disease/chemically induced , Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Attention/drug effects , Cross-Over Studies , Double-Blind Method , Female , Healthy Volunteers , Humans , Male , Memory Disorders/diagnosis , Mental Recall/drug effects , Neuropsychological Tests , Young Adult
9.
Curr Opin Pharmacol ; 14: 18-22, 2014 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24565007

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease leading to cognitive decline, dementia, and ultimately death. Despite extensive R&D efforts, there are no diseases modifying treatments for AD available. The stage in which patients receive a clinical diagnosis of probable AD may be too late for disease modifying pharmacotherapy. Prevention strategies may be required to successfully tackle AD. Preclinical AD applies to over half of all healthy elderly subjects and manifests by signs of amyloid deposition and/or neuronal injury in the brain, preceding the stage in which symptoms of dementia, cognitive and functional impairment become observable. Prevention trials in preclinical AD require longer and larger clinical trials using biomarkers and cognitive endpoints, which requires collaboration across academia, government and industry.


Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/prevention & control , Cognition Disorders/prevention & control , Dementia/prevention & control , Aged , Alzheimer Disease/diagnosis , Alzheimer Disease/physiopathology , Amyloid beta-Peptides/metabolism , Biomarkers/metabolism , Brain/physiopathology , Clinical Trials as Topic/methods , Cognition Disorders/etiology , Cooperative Behavior , Dementia/diagnosis , Dementia/etiology , Disease Progression , Humans
10.
Psychopharmacology (Berl) ; 225(4): 903-21, 2013 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23052568

ABSTRACT

RATIONALE: Suppression of redundant auditory information and facilitation of deviant, novel, or salient sounds can be assessed with paired-click and oddball tasks, respectively. Electrophysiological correlates of perturbed auditory processing found in these paradigms are likely to be a trait marker or candidate endophenotype for schizophrenia. OBJECTIVE: This is the first study to investigate the effects of the muscarinic M1 antagonist biperiden and the cholinesterase inhibitor rivastigmine on auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs), sensory gating, and mismatch negativity (MMN) in young, healthy volunteers. RESULTS: Biperiden increased P50 amplitude and prolonged N100 and P200 latency in the paired-click task but did not affect sensory gating. Rivastigmine was able to reverse the effects of biperiden on N100 and P200 latency. Biperiden increased P50 latency in the novelty oddball task, which was reversed by concurrent administration of rivastigmine. Rivastigmine shortened N100 latency and enhanced P3a amplitude in the novelty oddball paradigm, both of which were reversed by biperiden. CONCLUSION: The muscarinic M1 receptor appears to be involved in preattentive processing of auditory information in the paired-click task. Additional effects of biperiden versus rivastigmine were reversed by a combination treatment, which renders attribution of these findings to muscarinic M1 versus muscarinic M2-M5 or nicotinic receptors much more difficult. It remains to be seen whether the effects of cholinergic drugs on AEPs are specifically related to the abnormalities found in schizophrenia. Alternatively, aberrant auditory processing could also be indicative of a general disturbance in neural functioning shared by several neuropsychiatric disorders and/or neurodegenerative changes seen in aging.


Subject(s)
Acoustic Stimulation/methods , Auditory Perception/physiology , Cholinergic Agents/pharmacology , Evoked Potentials, Auditory/physiology , Sensory Gating/physiology , Adolescent , Adult , Auditory Perception/drug effects , Biperiden/pharmacology , Cholinesterase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Cross-Over Studies , Double-Blind Method , Electroencephalography/drug effects , Electroencephalography/methods , Evoked Potentials, Auditory/drug effects , Female , Humans , Male , Muscarinic Antagonists/pharmacology , Phenylcarbamates/pharmacology , Rivastigmine , Sensory Gating/drug effects , Young Adult
11.
Biol Psychiatry ; 72(2): 142-9, 2012 Jul 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22552046

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Methylphenidate improves motor response inhibition, typically assessed with the stop-signal task. The exact underlying mechanism for this, however, remains unknown. In addition, recent studies highlight that stop signals can have a confounding attentional-capture effect because of their low frequency in the task. In the current study, we assessed the effects of methylphenidate on neural networks of inhibitory control and attentional-capture within the context of two inhibitory control tasks. METHODS: The effects of methylphenidate (40 mg) were assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 16 healthy volunteers in a within-subject, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. RESULTS: Methylphenidate significantly reduced activation of different regions within the right inferior frontal gyrus/insula to infrequent stimuli associated with successful inhibition, failed inhibition, and attentional capture. These inferior frontal gyrus regions showed different interregional connections with inhibitory and attention networks. For failed inhibitions, methylphenidate increased activation within performance-monitoring regions, including the superior frontal, anterior cingulate, and parietal-occipital cortices, but only after controlling for attentional capture. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the improvement of response inhibition seen following methylphenidate administration is due to its influence on underlying attentional mechanisms linked to response control requirements.


Subject(s)
Attention/physiology , Brain Mapping/psychology , Frontal Lobe/physiology , Inhibition, Psychological , Methylphenidate/pharmacology , Occipital Lobe/physiology , Parietal Lobe/physiology , Prefrontal Cortex/physiology , Adult , Attention/drug effects , Brain Mapping/methods , Cross-Over Studies , Double-Blind Method , Frontal Lobe/drug effects , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods , Magnetic Resonance Imaging/psychology , Male , Neural Pathways/drug effects , Neural Pathways/physiology , Occipital Lobe/drug effects , Parietal Lobe/drug effects , Placebos , Prefrontal Cortex/drug effects , Psychomotor Performance/drug effects , Psychomotor Performance/physiology
12.
Int J Psychophysiol ; 84(1): 102-12, 2012 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22296932

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Semantic network abnormalities in patients with psychotic disorder were examined using associative prime-target relations with two stimulus asynchronies (SOAs; -250ms and -500ms) to assess the time course of automatic and more controlled processes of semantic priming. To investigate whether an aberrant semantic network system is part of the familial liability for psychosis, healthy siblings of patients with psychotic disorder were additionally examined. The N400 event-related brain potential (ERP) was used as a probe of semantic processing. METHOD: Twenty-two patients with psychotic disorder, twenty siblings of patients with psychotic disorder and twenty controls participated in a lexical decision task and ERPs were recorded to target words that were associatively, indirectly or not related to their preceding prime word. RESULTS: Associative priming of the N400 amplitude was found across all participants and both SOAs, but no between-group differences were found for the N400 amplitude (both SOAs). The Group×Condition interaction of the indirect priming N400 latency of the three groups was just short of statistical significance (F2,59=2.7, p=.077). Patients showed an increased indirect priming effect of the N400 latency only at short SOA, with decreased latency of the indirectly related compared to the unrelated condition, while controls did not show an indirect priming N400 latency effect. No between-group differences in N400 latency of indirect priming were found at the long SOA. Only a trend towards a Group×Condition interaction of the indirect priming N400 latency between the sibling and the controls was found, but without a main effect of indirect priming in the sibling group. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results support the assumption of a hyperactive semantic network in patients with psychotic disorder, which develops under automatic processes and decreases with more controlled processes, but does not represent clear trait familial liability.


Subject(s)
Cortical Spreading Depression/physiology , Decision Making/physiology , Evoked Potentials/physiology , Family , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Psychotic Disorders/physiopathology , Adolescent , Adult , Electroencephalography/methods , Family/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Photic Stimulation/methods , Psychotic Disorders/genetics , Psychotic Disorders/psychology , Reaction Time/physiology , Young Adult
13.
Psychopharmacology (Berl) ; 218(3): 533-42, 2011 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21597989

ABSTRACT

RATIONALE: The basal ganglia play an important role in motor control, which is dependent on dopaminergic input. Preparation of a motor response has been associated with dopamine release in the basal ganglia, and response readiness may therefore serve as a pharmacodynamic marker of dopamine activity. METHODS: We measured response readiness using the amplitude of the contingent negative variation (CNV), a slow negative shift in the electroencephalogram. The CNV is evoked in a paradigm in which a warning stimulus (S1) signals the occurrence of the imperative stimulus (S2) 4 s later, to which the participant has to respond. CNV was assessed in healthy volunteers after administration of placebo or 10, 20 or 40 mg of methylphenidate, a catecholamine re-uptake blocker which primarily enhances the synaptic concentration of dopamine and to a lesser extent also noradrenaline. In addition, participants filled out two visual analogue scales measuring subjective ratings of mood and alertness: Profile of Mood States and Bond and Lader. RESULTS: Methylphenidate dose dependently increased CNV amplitude and decreased reaction times. Furthermore, participants reported improved mood, feeling more alert, vigorous and content and less angry and tired after methylphenidate. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that dopamine availability increases response readiness as measured by the CNV paradigm. The CNV appears to be a good candidate biomarker for assessing changes in dopaminergic function by treatments that either directly or indirectly target the dopaminergic system.


Subject(s)
Contingent Negative Variation/drug effects , Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors/pharmacology , Dopamine/metabolism , Methylphenidate/pharmacology , Adult , Affect/drug effects , Basal Ganglia/drug effects , Basal Ganglia/metabolism , Cross-Over Studies , Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors/administration & dosage , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Double-Blind Method , Electroencephalography , Humans , Male , Methylphenidate/administration & dosage , Norepinephrine/metabolism , Young Adult
14.
Pharmacol Biochem Behav ; 99(2): 130-45, 2011 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21463652

ABSTRACT

The investigation of novel drug targets for treating cognitive impairments associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders remains a primary focus of study in central nervous system (CNS) research. Many promising new therapies are progressing through preclinical and clinical development, and offer the potential of improved treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) as well as other disorders that have not been particularly well treated to date like the cognitive impairments associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). Among targets under investigation, cholinergic receptors have received much attention with several nicotinic agonists (α7 and α4ß2) actively in clinical trials for the treatment of AD, CIAS and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both glutamatergic and serotonergic (5-HT) agonists and antagonists have profound effects on neurotransmission and improve cognitive function in preclinical experiments with animals; some of these compounds are now in proof-of-concept studies in humans. Several histamine H3 receptor antagonists are in clinical development not only for cognitive enhancement, but also for the treatment of narcolepsy and cognitive deficits due to sleep deprivation because of their expression in brain sleep centers. Compounds that dampen inhibitory tone (e.g., GABA(A) α5 inverse agonists) or elevate excitatory tone (e.g., glycine transporter inhibitors) offer novel approaches for treating diseases such as schizophrenia, AD and Down syndrome. In addition to cell surface receptors, intracellular drug targets such as the phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are known to impact signaling pathways that affect long-term memory formation and working memory. Overall, there is a genuine need to treat cognitive deficits associated with many neuropsychiatric conditions as well as an increasingly aging population.


Subject(s)
Cognition Disorders/drug therapy , Nootropic Agents/pharmacology , Animals , Cognition Disorders/physiopathology , Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/drug effects , Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/physiology , Humans , Learning/drug effects , Learning/physiology , Memory/drug effects , Memory/physiology , Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Receptors, Cholinergic/drug effects , Receptors, Cholinergic/physiology , Receptors, Dopamine/drug effects , Receptors, Dopamine/physiology , Receptors, GABA/drug effects , Receptors, GABA/physiology , Receptors, Glutamate/drug effects , Receptors, Glutamate/physiology , Receptors, Histamine/drug effects , Receptors, Histamine/physiology , Receptors, Serotonin/drug effects , Receptors, Serotonin/physiology
15.
Clin Neurophysiol ; 122(10): 1984-90, 2011 Oct.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21459037

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Abnormalities of the auditory P300 are a robust finding in patients with psychosis. The purposes of this study were to determine whether patients with a psychotic disorder and their unaffected siblings show abnormalities in P300 and N100 and to establish test-retest reliabilities for these ERP components. METHODS: Using an auditory oddball paradigm, P300 and N100 latency and amplitude were acquired from 19 patients with a psychotic disorder, 28 unaffected siblings, and 37 healthy controls, on two separate occasions. ERP components were compared between groups, using multilevel random regression analyses. Intraclass correlations were used to determine consistency of ERP components between the sessions. RESULTS: A delayed target N100 latency was found in unaffected siblings. Patients showed significantly delayed P300 latency and diminished P300 amplitude compared to controls. Most ERP parameters showed good test-retest reliability. However, patients did not show sufficient reliability for N100 latency for standard stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: The present study failed to find significant P300 abnormalities in unaffected siblings. However, N100 latency is delayed in siblings and can be reliably measured in all groups for target stimuli, suggesting that this component, rather than P300, may serve as liability marker. SIGNIFICANCE: N100 latency is a promising biomarker for psychosis liability.


Subject(s)
Event-Related Potentials, P300/genetics , Evoked Potentials, Auditory/genetics , Phenotype , Psychotic Disorders/genetics , Psychotic Disorders/physiopathology , Siblings , Acoustic Stimulation/methods , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Psychotic Disorders/psychology , Reproducibility of Results , Siblings/psychology , Young Adult
16.
J Psychopharmacol ; 25(2): 230-8, 2011 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19939876

ABSTRACT

Dopamine is well known for involvement in reinforcement, motor control and frontal lobe functions, such as attention and memory. Tyrosine/phenylalanine depletion (TPD) lowers dopamine synthesis and can therefore be used as a model to study the effects of low dopamine levels. This is the first study to assess the effect of TPD on memory performance and its electrophysiological correlates. In a double blind placebo (PLA)-controlled crossover design, 17 healthy volunteers (six males, 11 females) aged between 18 and 25 were tested after TPD and PLA. Working memory was assessed using a Sternberg memory scanning task (SMS) and episodic memory using the Visual Verbal Learning Test (VVLT). Simultaneously, event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured. The tyrosine and phenylalanine ratio was significantly reduced after TPD and increased after PLA. Working memory performance was not affected by TPD. However, ERP measures were affected by the treatment, indicating that TPD impaired stimulus processing during working memory performance. Episodic memory was not impaired after TPD. Again, alterations in ERP measures suggested adverse effects of TPD on memory-related processing. These results suggest that dopamine is involved in both working memory and episodic memory-related processing, although the effects are too small to be detected by performance measures.


Subject(s)
Evoked Potentials/physiology , Memory, Short-Term/physiology , Mental Recall/physiology , Phenylalanine/deficiency , Tyrosine/deficiency , Adolescent , Adult , Cross-Over Studies , Double-Blind Method , Female , Humans , Male , Phenylalanine/blood , Placebos , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Tyrosine/blood , Verbal Learning/physiology
17.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev ; 33(6): 926-52, 2009 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19428501

ABSTRACT

The serotonergic system is implicated in the regulation of mood and cognition. Acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) is an experimental procedure for lowering central serotonin levels. Here, the effects of ATD on psychomotor processing, declarative memory, working memory, executive functions and attention are discussed. The most robust finding is that ATD impairs the consolidation of episodic memory for verbal information. Semantic memory appears to be unaffected by ATD although a limited variety of tasks examined effects in this domain. Similarly, evidence suggests ATD does not influence verbal, spatial and affective working memory. Most studies investigating effects on executive functions have produced non-specific or negative findings. In terms of attention, ATD either does not affect or may improve focused attention and ATD likely does not impact sustained and divided attention or attentional set-shifting. Although ATD is known to affect mood in certain vulnerable populations, the effects of ATD on cognition in non-vulnerable participants are independent of mood changes. Suggestions for future directions and implications for psychiatric illnesses are discussed.


Subject(s)
Attention/physiology , Cognition/physiology , Memory/physiology , Tryptophan/metabolism , Brain/anatomy & histology , Brain/physiology , Emotions/physiology , Humans , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Semantics , Serotonin/metabolism , Space Perception/physiology
18.
Eur J Pharmacol ; 572(2-3): 151-9, 2007 Oct 31.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-17659275

ABSTRACT

This study examined the role of cognitively enhancing cholinergic drugs on both object memory and brain activity in rats, as well as the possible relation between the two measures. A group of twenty-four animals was used for assessing object recognition. In another group of eight rats, an electrode was implanted into the dorsal hippocampus to record an electroencephalogram (EEG) and auditory evoked potentials (AEP). In both groups, animals were treated with saline, 0.1 mg/kg scopolamine, 0.1 mg/kg methylscopolamine, 3 mg/kg donepezil, donepezil combined with scopolamine, 0.1 mg/kg nicotine, and nicotine combined with scopolamine. Scopolamine, but not methylscopolamine, impaired object recognition. Both donepezil and nicotine reversed this impairment. The N1 and N2 components of the AEP became closer to baseline after scopolamine, which was not reversed by donepezil or nicotine. Scopolamine increased the theta frequency in the EEG. When combined with donepezil, theta increased even more. Conversely, nicotine reversed the theta increment to control level. It is suggested that scopolamine caused a decrement in arousal in this study. Furthermore, the current results suggest a relation between EEG and object memory after cholinergic drug treatment. However, there was a clear dissociation between memory performance and EEG after combined treatment with drugs, which makes additional research where EEG and performance measures are co-registered imperative.


Subject(s)
Cholinergic Agents/pharmacology , Exploratory Behavior/drug effects , Hippocampus/drug effects , Recognition, Psychology/drug effects , Animals , Cholinesterase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Donepezil , Electroencephalography , Evoked Potentials, Auditory/drug effects , Hippocampus/physiology , Indans/pharmacology , Male , Memory/drug effects , Nicotine/pharmacology , Nicotinic Agonists/pharmacology , Piperidines/pharmacology , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Scopolamine/pharmacology
19.
J Psychopharmacol ; 21(3): 338-46, 2007 May.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-17591660

ABSTRACT

Speech disturbances are well-known symptoms contributing to the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Subanesthetic doses of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist ketamine have been reported to produce positive and negative symptoms and cognitive impairments consistent with those seen in schizophrenia. Insofar as this is true, it constitutes evidence that the NMDA system is involved in schizophrenia. It is therefore of interest to know whether ketamine produces speech disturbances like those of schizophrenia. Quantitative computer-aided analysis of apparently normal speech can detect clinically relevant changes and differences that are not noticeable to the human observer. Accordingly, in this study, speech samples were analysed for repetitiousness, idea density, and verb density using software developed by the authors. The samples came from two experiments, a within-subjects study of healthy volunteers given intravenous ketamine versus placebo, and a between-groups study of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and comparable healthy controls.Our primary hypothesis was that in both schizophrenia and ketamine, repetitiousness would increase, since perserverative speech is a well-known symptom of schizophrenia. Our secondary hypotheses were that in both schizophrenia and ketamine, idea density and verb density would decrease as indicators of cognitive impairment. The primary hypothesis was confirmed in the schizophrenia experiment (between groups) and the ketamine experiment (within subjects). The secondary hypotheses were disconfirmed except that in the ketamine experiment, verb density was significantly lowered. Reduced use of verbs apparently reflects a cognitive impairment of a different type than repetitiousness, and further investigation is needed to determine whether this impairment occurs in psychosis.


Subject(s)
Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists/pharmacology , Hallucinogens , Ketamine/pharmacology , Psychoses, Substance-Induced/psychology , Schizophrenic Language , Adult , Cross-Over Studies , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Double-Blind Method , Female , Humans , Male , Sample Size
20.
Clin Chem ; 53(4): 702-10, 2007 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-17332148

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Enantioselective analysis of amphetamine (AM), methamphetamine (MA), 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) helps interpret toxicological results. Methods have been described for various matrices, but so far not for oral fluid, a matrix of increasing importance in testing for drugs of abuse, especially in the context of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID). METHODS: After dilution with 200 microL carbonate buffer (pH 9), oral fluid samples (10-50 microL) were derivatized with S-heptafluorobutyrylprolyl chloride. The resulting diastereomers were extracted into 100 microL of cyclohexane, separated by gas chromatography (HP-5MS column), and detected by mass spectrometry in the negative-ion chemical ionization mode (GC-NICI-MS). The method was validated and applied to samples from a controlled study with MDMA and from authentic DUID cases. RESULTS: The derivatized AM, MA, MDA, MDMA, and MDEA enantiomers were well separated from each other. The method was linear from 5-250 microg/L per enantiomer of MDA and from 25-1250 microg/L per enantiomer of AM, MA, MDMA, and MDEA. With the exception of MDEA, analytical recoveries, repeatability, and intermediate precision were within required limits. The analyte concentrations and enantiomer ratios in the application samples correlated only weakly with corresponding published plasma data. CONCLUSIONS: This sensitive, reliable, and fast GC-NICI-MS assay enantioselectively measures AM, MA, MDA, and MDMA in oral fluid samples. Prediction of plasma concentrations and enantiomer ratios from respective oral fluid data is not possible.


Subject(s)
Amphetamine-Related Disorders/diagnosis , Amphetamines/analysis , Automobile Driving , Saliva/chemistry , Substance Abuse Detection/methods , Amphetamines/chemistry , Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry , Humans , N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/analysis , N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/chemistry , Reproducibility of Results , Sensitivity and Specificity , Stereoisomerism
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