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The effect of acute tryptophan depletion on emotional distraction and subsequent memory.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wang, L; Mullette-Gillman, OA; Gadde, KM; Kuhn, CM; McCarthy, G; Huettel, SA
Published in: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
December 2009

Serotonin is a key neurotransmitter involved in emotional regulation and memory. A number of studies using acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) in healthy subjects have shown that a temporary serotonin reduction both induces a negative emotional bias and impairs long-term memory. However, little is known about the specific effects of ATD on emotional memory. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the effect of ATD on negative memory and executive function in healthy volunteers. Our emotional oddball task required participants to distinguish infrequently presented targets from distracting negative and neutral pictures. Memory for the distracting pictures was tested 1 h following the fMRI session. ATD selectively enhanced memory for negative distractors relative to neutral distractors and increased activation in response to the negative distractors in the left orbital-inferior frontal, dorsomedial prefrontal and bilateral angular gyri. ATD also induced greater activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate across all stimuli. Stronger frontal activation to distractors was positively correlated with memory performance on ATD but not control days, indicating a possible compensatory mechanism for coping with increased task demand under the ATD challenge. These findings highlight the importance of serotonin in negative memory with implications for mood disorders.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci

DOI

EISSN

1749-5024

Publication Date

December 2009

Volume

4

Issue

4

Start / End Page

357 / 368

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Tryptophan
  • Time Factors
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Pain Measurement
  • Oxygen
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Memory
 

Citation

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Wang, L., Mullette-Gillman, O. A., Gadde, K. M., Kuhn, C. M., McCarthy, G., & Huettel, S. A. (2009). The effect of acute tryptophan depletion on emotional distraction and subsequent memory. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, 4(4), 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsp025
Wang, Lihong, O’Dhaniel A. Mullette-Gillman, Kishore M. Gadde, Cynthia M. Kuhn, Gregory McCarthy, and Scott A. Huettel. “The effect of acute tryptophan depletion on emotional distraction and subsequent memory.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 4, no. 4 (December 2009): 357–68. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsp025.
Wang L, Mullette-Gillman OA, Gadde KM, Kuhn CM, McCarthy G, Huettel SA. The effect of acute tryptophan depletion on emotional distraction and subsequent memory. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2009 Dec;4(4):357–68.
Wang, Lihong, et al. “The effect of acute tryptophan depletion on emotional distraction and subsequent memory.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, vol. 4, no. 4, Dec. 2009, pp. 357–68. Pubmed, doi:10.1093/scan/nsp025.
Wang L, Mullette-Gillman OA, Gadde KM, Kuhn CM, McCarthy G, Huettel SA. The effect of acute tryptophan depletion on emotional distraction and subsequent memory. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2009 Dec;4(4):357–368.
Journal cover image

Published In

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci

DOI

EISSN

1749-5024

Publication Date

December 2009

Volume

4

Issue

4

Start / End Page

357 / 368

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Tryptophan
  • Time Factors
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Pain Measurement
  • Oxygen
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Memory