Short-term NK1 receptor antagonism and emotional processing in healthy volunteers

Pringle, A.; McTavish, Sarah F. B.; Williams, Ceridwen; Smith, Rachel J.; Cowen, Philip J.; Harmer, Catherine J.

doi:10.1007/s00213-010-2133-z

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Consistent with this, the effects of these drugs on emotional processing were more restricted than those typically seen with antidepressant drug treatment [87][88][89][90]. For example, the NK1 antagonist aprepitant increased ACC and amygdala activity to happy faces, but unlike other antidepressant studies had no effect on neural processing of fearful faces [87].…”

Section: Converging Evidence For the Neurocognitive Modelmentioning

confidence: 69%

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression

Warren

Pringle

Harmer

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 15 to a theme issue 'Controlling brain activity to alter perception, behaviour and society'. The way in which emotion is represented and processed in the human brain is an expanding area of research and has key implications for how we understand and potentially treat affective disorders such as depression. Characterizing the effects of pharmacological manipulations of key neurotransmitter systems can also help reveal the neurochemical underpinnings of emotional processing and how common antidepressant drugs may work in the treatment of depression and anxiety. This approach has revealed that depression is associated with both neural and behavioural biases towards negative over positive stimuli. Evidence from pharmacological challenge studies suggests that antidepressant treatment acts to normalize these biases early on in treatment, resulting in patients experiencing the world in a more positive way, improving their mood over time. This model is supported by evidence from both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. The unique perspective on antidepressant treatment offered by this approach provides some insights into individual response to treatment, as well as novel approaches to drug development.

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Section: Converging Evidence For the Neurocognitive Modelmentioning

confidence: 69%

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression

Warren

Pringle

Harmer

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…The trend was seen in the absence of any effects on the two tests of non-emotional memory (n-back and AVLT) providing some evidence to suggest that it is not secondary to broader changes in memory function. Within the neuropsychological model of antidepressant drug action, emotional memory effects have usually been found in surprise free-recall tests as opposed to recognition tests, although effects on recognition memory have also been seen in some studies (Malcolm et al, 2009; Pringle et al, 2011b). However, this trend to an effect was in the absence of any other significant effects on emotional memory or categorisation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using an experimental medicine model to understand the antidepressant potential of the N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist memantine

et al. 2012

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There is growing interest in the role of the glutamatergic system both in depression and as a novel target for treatments. Preclinical studies suggested that the non-competitive N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist memantine might have antidepressant properties, but a randomised controlled trial failed to support this. A healthy volunteer model of emotional processing was used to assess the neuropsychological profile of action of memantine. Healthy volunteers (n=32) were randomised to receive a single dose of memantine (10 mg) or placebo, and subsequently completed a battery of tasks measuring emotional processing, including facial expression recognition, emotional memory, dot-probe and emotion-potentiated startle tasks, as well as working and verbal memory. Memantine treated volunteers showed an increased emotion-potentiated startle, and a reduced bias for negative items in emotional recognition memory. There were no effects of the drug on any other aspect of emotional or non-emotional information processing. These results suggest that a single dose of memantine produces an early anxiogenic response in the emotion-potentiated startle similar to that seen following a single dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, citalopram. However, the overall profile of effects is more limited than that which might be expected in response to a conventional antidepressant.

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“…Emotion-potentiated startle task (electromyography). A detailed description is provided elsewhere (Pringle et al, 2011b). Concisely, after a habituation session, we presented 63 pictures of different valence (pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral), taken from the International Affective Picture Scale (gender specified; Larson et al, 2000), for 13 s followed by a picture with different valence, on a computer screen in three blocks in fixed order.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We recorded the eye-blink component of startle reflexes using three lead electromyography (EMG startle response system, San Diego Instruments, San Diego, CA). Acoustic probes were 50 ms, 95 dB bursts of white noise, delivered binaurally through headphones at 1.5, 4.5, or 7.5 s following picture onset (Pringle et al, 2011b). We calculated eye-blink reflex magnitudes and z-transformed those to normalize data and reduce intersubject variability.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Short-Term Varenicline Administration on Emotional and Cognitive Processing in Healthy, Non-Smoking Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Study

Mocking

Pflanz

Pringle

et al. 2012

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Varenicline is an effective and increasingly prescribed drug for smoking cessation, but has been associated with depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior. However, it remains unclear whether those changes in mood and behavior are directly related to varenicline use, or caused by smoking cessation itself or reflects depression and suicidality rates in smokers, independent of treatment. To investigate the influence of varenicline on mood and behavior independent of smoking and smoking cessation, we assessed the effects of varenicline on emotional processing (a biomarker of depressogenic effects), emotion-potentiated startle reactivity, impulsivity (linked with suicidal behavior), and cognitive performance in non-smoking subjects. We used a randomized, double-blind design, in which we administered varenicline or placebo to healthy subjects over 7 days (0.5 mg/day first 3 days, then 1 mg/day). Cognitive and emotional processing was assessed by a battery of computerized tasks and recording of emotion-potentiated startle response. A total of 41 subjects were randomized, with 38 subjects included in the analysis. The varenicline group did not differ from placebo in terms of negative biases in emotional processing or mood. However, compared with placebo, the varenicline group scored higher on working and declarative memory. In conclusion, short-term varenicline use did not influence negative biases in emotional processing or impulsivity in non-smoking subjects, thereby not supporting direct depressogenic or suicidal risk behavior-inducing effects. In contrast, varenicline may have cognitive-enhancing effects.

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Short-term NK1 receptor antagonism and emotional processing in healthy volunteers

Cited by 17 publications

References 29 publications

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression

Using an experimental medicine model to understand the antidepressant potential of the N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist memantine

Effects of Short-Term Varenicline Administration on Emotional and Cognitive Processing in Healthy, Non-Smoking Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Study

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