Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies of the effects of acute tryptophan depletion:: a systematic review of the literature

Paolo Fusar-Poli; Paul Allen; Philip McGuire; Anna Placentino; Mariachiara Cortesi; Jorge Perez

doi:10.1007/s00213-006-0493-1

Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies of the effects of acute tryptophan depletion: a systematic review of the literature

Paolo Fusar-Poli, Paul Allen, Philip McGuire, Anna Placentino, Mariachiara Cortesi, Jorge Perez

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

Rationale There is a growing psychopharmacological literature on the use of Acute Tryptophan Depletion (ATD) for experimental modulation of the serotonergic system. To date, no systematic review has been undertaken assessing the neurophysiological effects following this acute central 5-HT manipulation.Materials and methods A comprehensive MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO search was performed for reports on neural substrates of Acute Tryptophan Depletion in healthy individuals and in clinical population.Results Twenty-eight placebo-controlled studies were included in the review. Although tryptophan depletion reduced plasma serotonin levels in all studies, significant effects on mood were only observed in studies with recovered depressed patients. In functional neuroimaging studies ATD was consistently found to modulate cortical activity in prefrontal areas implicated in mnemonic and executive functions and in orbitofrontal, cingulate, and subcortical regions associated with emotional processing. Electrophysiological studies indicated that ATD has a significant effect on both "selective" and "involuntary" attention.Conclusions The combination of ATD with modern brain imaging techniques allows the investigation of the neurophysiological effects of reduced 5-HT synthesis on global brain activity, executive functions, memory, attention, and affect.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	131-143
Journal	Psychopharmacology
Volume	188
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-006-0493-1
Publication status	Published - 2006

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10.1007/s00213-006-0493-1

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-006-0493-1

Cite this

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title = "Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies of the effects of acute tryptophan depletion:: a systematic review of the literature",

abstract = "Rationale There is a growing psychopharmacological literature on the use of Acute Tryptophan Depletion (ATD) for experimental modulation of the serotonergic system. To date, no systematic review has been undertaken assessing the neurophysiological effects following this acute central 5-HT manipulation.Materials and methods A comprehensive MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO search was performed for reports on neural substrates of Acute Tryptophan Depletion in healthy individuals and in clinical population.Results Twenty-eight placebo-controlled studies were included in the review. Although tryptophan depletion reduced plasma serotonin levels in all studies, significant effects on mood were only observed in studies with recovered depressed patients. In functional neuroimaging studies ATD was consistently found to modulate cortical activity in prefrontal areas implicated in mnemonic and executive functions and in orbitofrontal, cingulate, and subcortical regions associated with emotional processing. Electrophysiological studies indicated that ATD has a significant effect on both {"}selective{"} and {"}involuntary{"} attention.Conclusions The combination of ATD with modern brain imaging techniques allows the investigation of the neurophysiological effects of reduced 5-HT synthesis on global brain activity, executive functions, memory, attention, and affect.",

author = "Paolo Fusar-Poli and Paul Allen and Philip McGuire and Anna Placentino and Mariachiara Cortesi and Jorge Perez",

year = "2006",

doi = "10.1007/s00213-006-0493-1",

language = "English",

volume = "188",

pages = "131--143",

journal = "Psychopharmacology",

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publisher = "Springer",

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T1 - Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies of the effects of acute tryptophan depletion:

T2 - a systematic review of the literature

AU - Fusar-Poli, Paolo

AU - Allen, Paul

AU - McGuire, Philip

AU - Placentino, Anna

AU - Cortesi, Mariachiara

AU - Perez, Jorge

PY - 2006

Y1 - 2006

N2 - Rationale There is a growing psychopharmacological literature on the use of Acute Tryptophan Depletion (ATD) for experimental modulation of the serotonergic system. To date, no systematic review has been undertaken assessing the neurophysiological effects following this acute central 5-HT manipulation.Materials and methods A comprehensive MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO search was performed for reports on neural substrates of Acute Tryptophan Depletion in healthy individuals and in clinical population.Results Twenty-eight placebo-controlled studies were included in the review. Although tryptophan depletion reduced plasma serotonin levels in all studies, significant effects on mood were only observed in studies with recovered depressed patients. In functional neuroimaging studies ATD was consistently found to modulate cortical activity in prefrontal areas implicated in mnemonic and executive functions and in orbitofrontal, cingulate, and subcortical regions associated with emotional processing. Electrophysiological studies indicated that ATD has a significant effect on both "selective" and "involuntary" attention.Conclusions The combination of ATD with modern brain imaging techniques allows the investigation of the neurophysiological effects of reduced 5-HT synthesis on global brain activity, executive functions, memory, attention, and affect.

AB - Rationale There is a growing psychopharmacological literature on the use of Acute Tryptophan Depletion (ATD) for experimental modulation of the serotonergic system. To date, no systematic review has been undertaken assessing the neurophysiological effects following this acute central 5-HT manipulation.Materials and methods A comprehensive MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO search was performed for reports on neural substrates of Acute Tryptophan Depletion in healthy individuals and in clinical population.Results Twenty-eight placebo-controlled studies were included in the review. Although tryptophan depletion reduced plasma serotonin levels in all studies, significant effects on mood were only observed in studies with recovered depressed patients. In functional neuroimaging studies ATD was consistently found to modulate cortical activity in prefrontal areas implicated in mnemonic and executive functions and in orbitofrontal, cingulate, and subcortical regions associated with emotional processing. Electrophysiological studies indicated that ATD has a significant effect on both "selective" and "involuntary" attention.Conclusions The combination of ATD with modern brain imaging techniques allows the investigation of the neurophysiological effects of reduced 5-HT synthesis on global brain activity, executive functions, memory, attention, and affect.

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DO - 10.1007/s00213-006-0493-1

M3 - Article

SN - 0033-3158

VL - 188

SP - 131

EP - 143

JO - Psychopharmacology

JF - Psychopharmacology

IS - 2

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