RATIONALE: Indirect evidence supports a link between serotonergic activity and individual differences in the behavioral response to alcohol, but few studies have experimentally demonstrated that an individual's biological state can influence the sensitivity to alcohol-induced behaviors. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to temporarily modify serotonin synthesis in healthy individuals to determine how altered biological states may interact with alcohol administration to affect impulsive behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a repeated-measures design, 18 normal controls consumed a 50-g L: -tryptophan (Trp) depleting (ATD) or loading (ATL) amino-acid beverage that temporarily decreased or increased (respectively) serotonin synthesis before receiving either a moderate dose of alcohol (0.65 g/kg) or placebo. All participants completed three impulsivity testing sessions on each of the five experimental days. Session one was a baseline session. Session two included testing after ATD-only or ATL-only. Session three included: (1) placebo after ATL (ATL+PBO); (2) placebo after ATD (ATD+PBO); (3) alcohol after ATL (ATL+ALC); (4) alcohol after ATD (ATD+ALC); and (5) Alcohol-only conditions. Impulsivity was assessed using the Immediate Memory Task (Dougherty et al., Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput 34:391-398, 2002), a continuous performance test yielding commission errors that have been previously validated as a component of impulsive behavior. RESULTS: Primary findings were that ATD-only increased impulsive responding compared to ATL-only, and ATD+ALC increased commission errors to levels higher than either the ATL+ALC or Alcohol-only conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that reduced serotonin synthesis can produce increased impulsivity even among non-impulsive normal controls, and that the behavioral effects of alcohol are, in part, dependent on this biological state.
RATIONALE: Indirect evidence supports a link between serotonergic activity and individual differences in the behavioral response to alcohol, but few studies have experimentally demonstrated that an individual's biological state can influence the sensitivity to alcohol-induced behaviors. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to temporarily modify serotonin synthesis in healthy individuals to determine how altered biological states may interact with alcohol administration to affect impulsive behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a repeated-measures design, 18 normal controls consumed a 50-g L: -tryptophan (Trp) depleting (ATD) or loading (ATL) amino-acid beverage that temporarily decreased or increased (respectively) serotonin synthesis before receiving either a moderate dose of alcohol (0.65 g/kg) or placebo. All participants completed three impulsivity testing sessions on each of the five experimental days. Session one was a baseline session. Session two included testing after ATD-only or ATL-only. Session three included: (1) placebo after ATL (ATL+PBO); (2) placebo after ATD (ATD+PBO); (3) alcohol after ATL (ATL+ALC); (4) alcohol after ATD (ATD+ALC); and (5) Alcohol-only conditions. Impulsivity was assessed using the Immediate Memory Task (Dougherty et al., Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput 34:391-398, 2002), a continuous performance test yielding commission errors that have been previously validated as a component of impulsive behavior. RESULTS: Primary findings were that ATD-only increased impulsive responding compared to ATL-only, and ATD+ALC increased commission errors to levels higher than either the ATL+ALC or Alcohol-only conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that reduced serotonin synthesis can produce increased impulsivity even among non-impulsive normal controls, and that the behavioral effects of alcohol are, in part, dependent on this biological state.
Authors: J S Rubinsztein; R D Rogers; W J Riedel; M A Mehta; T W Robbins; B J Sahakian Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2001-03 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: R D Rogers; A J Blackshaw; H C Middleton; K Matthews; K Hawtin; C Crowley; A Hopwood; C Wallace; J F Deakin; B J Sahakian; T W Robbins Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 1999-10 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Donald M Dougherty; Charles W Mathias; Dawn M Marsh-Richard; R Michael Furr; Sylvain O Nouvion; Michael A Dawes Journal: Addict Disord Their Treat Date: 2009-06-01
Authors: Jillian Mullen; Charles W Mathias; Tara E Karns; Yuanyuan Liang; Nathalie Hill-Kapturczak; John D Roache; Richard J Lamb; Donald M Dougherty Journal: Addict Disord Their Treat Date: 2016-09
Authors: Espen Walderhaug; Aryeh Isaac Herman; Andres Magnusson; Michael John Morgan; Nils Inge Landrø Journal: Neurosci Lett Date: 2010-02-25 Impact factor: 3.046
Authors: Donald M Dougherty; Jillian Mullen; Nathalie Hill-Kapturczak; Yuanyuan Liang; Tara E Karns; Sarah L Lake; Charles W Mathias; John D Roache Journal: Exp Clin Psychopharmacol Date: 2015-03-02 Impact factor: 3.157
Authors: Donald M Dougherty; Dawn M Marsh-Richard; Charles W Mathias; Ashley J Hood; Merideth A Addicott; F Gerard Moeller; Christopher J Morgan; Abdulla A-B Badawy Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2008-05-02 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Shijing Liu; Scott D Lane; Joy M Schmitz; Kathryn A Cunningham; Vineeth P John; F Gerard Moeller Journal: J Psychopharmacol Date: 2013-06-12 Impact factor: 4.153
Authors: Dawn M Richard; Michael A Dawes; Charles W Mathias; Ashley Acheson; Nathalie Hill-Kapturczak; Donald M Dougherty Journal: Int J Tryptophan Res Date: 2009-03-23