Levodopa enhances explicit new-word learning in healthy adults: a preliminary study.
Hum Psychopharmacol
; 30(5): 341-9, 2015 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25900350
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
While the role of dopamine in modulating executive function, working memory and associative learning has been established; its role in word learning and language processing more generally is not clear. This preliminary study investigated the impact of increased synaptic dopamine levels on new-word learning ability in healthy young adults using an explicit learning paradigm.METHOD:
A double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-groups design was used. Participants completed five learning sessions over 1 week with levodopa or placebo administered at each session (five doses, 100 mg). Each session involved a study phase followed by a test phase. Test phases involved recall and recognition tests of the new (non-word) names previously paired with unfamiliar objects (half with semantic descriptions) during the study phase.RESULTS:
The levodopa group showed superior recall accuracy for new words over five learning sessions compared with the placebo group and better recognition accuracy at a 1-month follow-up for words learnt with a semantic description.CONCLUSIONS:
These findings suggest that dopamine boosts initial lexical acquisition and enhances longer-term consolidation of words learnt with semantic information, consistent with dopaminergic enhancement of semantic salience.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Dopaminérgicos
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Levodopa
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Idioma
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Aprendizagem
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
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Observational_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article