Researchers increased synaptic serotonin through a selective serotonin-releasing agent, fenfluramine, to investigate its impact on human behavior.
By Pooja Toshniwal PahariaReviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc.Aug 14 2024 In a recent study in Nature Communications, researchers increased synaptic serotonin through a selective serotonin-releasing agent , fenfluramine, to investigate its impact on human behavior.
About the study In the present study, researchers investigated the effects of directly increasing synaptic serotonin with fenfluramine in humans, focusing on unpleasant processing, behavioral inhibition, and memory. They explored whether fenfluramine would cause behavior to differ from that observed with tryptophan deprivation.
At both visits , participants filled out questionnaires assessing mood, anxiety, depression, subjective cognitive function, and adverse effects. The questionnaires included the Beck Depression Inventory-II , Perceived Deficit Questionnaire—Depression , Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory , Positive and Negative Affect Schedule , and Visual Analogue Scale .
Results The study found that boosting synaptic serotonin lowers reinforcement sensitivity for unpleasant outcomes while enhancing behavioral inhibition, altering the bias toward impulse control during aversive interference or exposure to adverse emotional probes. Elevating synaptic serotonin improved memory for neutral verbal information.
The study discovered that increasing synaptic 5-HT enhances verbal memory processing; however, there was no significant group effect on the overall number of precisely recalled targets during sophisticated verbal working memory processing. The fenfluramine allocation led to faster recall of proper targets and greater total accuracy during delayed recall.
Anxiety Depression Dopamine Epilepsy Neuroscience Placebo Research
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Researchers develop new technique for diagnosing disorders of sex developmentDisorders/differences of sex development (DSD) are difficult to diagnose because of the multiple phenotypes and genes involved, but a new technique developed at Hudson Institute of Medical Research is set to change all that.
Read more »
Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers identify new targets for mesothelioma preventionA new research perspective was published in Oncoscience (Volume 11) on May 23, 2024, entitled, 'Targeting inflammatory factors for chemoprevention and cancer interception to tackle malignant mesothelioma.'
Read more »
Researchers mark milestone in progress toward investigational new drug for triple-negative breast cancerA new compound developed by researchers at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center shows promise in overcoming chemotherapy resistance in triple-negative breast cancer—and could potentially be applied to fibrotic conditions like liver fibrosis or pulmonary fibrosis.
Read more »
Researchers discover new target for treating diseases linked to T-cell leukemia virus type 1A team of researchers from Penn State College of Medicine found a new target for treating diseases associated with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1).
Read more »
New 'vaccine-like' HIV drug could cost just $40: ResearchersA new 'vaccine-like' HIV drug that currently costs over $40,000 per person a year could be made for as little as $40, researchers estimated on Tuesday.
Read more »
Researchers close in on new technology for objectively measuring painOn a scale of one to ten, how much pain do you feel?
Read more »