The effect of tryptophan depletion on brain activation measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging during the Stroop test in healthy subjects

Title:

The effect of tryptophan depletion on brain activation measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging during the Stroop test in healthy subjects

Creator:

Horáček, J., Závěšická, L., Tintěra, J., Dockery, C., Platilová, V., Kopeček, M., Španiel, F., Bubeníková, V., and Höschl, C.

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:816cffd0-3126-4892-a6b6-a003f9bf37ac
uuid:816cffd0-3126-4892-a6b6-a003f9bf37ac

Subject:

Serotonin, Tryptophan depletion, fMRI, Stroop test, and Cognition

Type:

article, model:article, and TEXT

Description:

We investigated the role of serotonin in cognitive activation of the frontal cortex. The serotonergic system was affected by the administration of an amino acids mixture without tryptophan (tryptophan depletion). In a placebo-controlled double-blind cross-over study with 20 healthy volunteers, we tested the hypothesis that a tryptophan (serotonin) decrease affects the activation of prefrontal cortex by the Stroop test. Cognitive brain activation was evaluated by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Tryptophan depletion decreased the plasma tryptophan level up to 90 % for five hours after the tryptophan-free drink had been consumed when compared with the same mixture with tryptophan (p ≤ 0.0001). Tryptophan depletion did not affect the Stroop test performance. We compared fMRI activation in both conditions (tryptophan depletion and placebo) with plasma tryptophan levels as the covariates. The tryptophan depletion increased the activation (fMRI signal) in the bilateral mediofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The present findings allow the postulate that serotonergic medial forebrain and cingulum bundle pathways play a role in the activity of cortical structures involved in Stroop test processing.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
policy:public

Source:

Physiological research | 2005 Volume:54 | Number:2

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false