Serotonin and emotional processing: does it help explain antidepressant drug action?

There is growing interest in the effects of antidepressant drug treatment on measures of emotional processing. Such actions may help us understand the role of monoamines in emotional dysfunction in depression and how antidepressant drug treatments work. Recent studies suggest that decreasing central...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Harmer, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2008
_version_ 1797088257175977984
author Harmer, C
author_facet Harmer, C
author_sort Harmer, C
collection OXFORD
description There is growing interest in the effects of antidepressant drug treatment on measures of emotional processing. Such actions may help us understand the role of monoamines in emotional dysfunction in depression and how antidepressant drug treatments work. Recent studies suggest that decreasing central serotonin function with tryptophan depletion can reinstate negative biases in recovered depressed patients, even at doses insufficient to induce changes in mood. Conversely, antidepressant drug administration increases the processing of positive emotional information in healthy volunteers and acutely depressed patients early in treatment. This increase in positive bias may provide a platform for subsequent cognitive restructuring and learning which contributes to the evolution of symptom change in depression. Functional neuroimaging studies suggest that these early antidepressant effects involve fronto-limbic and extra-striate circuitry suggestive of actions on both the initial appraisal and attentional processing of affective stimuli. This approach may therefore provide a framework for linking psychological and biological processes in emotional disorders and their treatment. Antidepressants may not directly modulate mood and anxiety but rather allow a different perspective for our ongoing evaluation of our self, the world and the future.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T02:47:26Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:ac80661c-2d02-4b70-b4fe-8633b367f07d
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T02:47:26Z
publishDate 2008
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:ac80661c-2d02-4b70-b4fe-8633b367f07d2022-03-27T03:29:25ZSerotonin and emotional processing: does it help explain antidepressant drug action?Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ac80661c-2d02-4b70-b4fe-8633b367f07dEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2008Harmer, CThere is growing interest in the effects of antidepressant drug treatment on measures of emotional processing. Such actions may help us understand the role of monoamines in emotional dysfunction in depression and how antidepressant drug treatments work. Recent studies suggest that decreasing central serotonin function with tryptophan depletion can reinstate negative biases in recovered depressed patients, even at doses insufficient to induce changes in mood. Conversely, antidepressant drug administration increases the processing of positive emotional information in healthy volunteers and acutely depressed patients early in treatment. This increase in positive bias may provide a platform for subsequent cognitive restructuring and learning which contributes to the evolution of symptom change in depression. Functional neuroimaging studies suggest that these early antidepressant effects involve fronto-limbic and extra-striate circuitry suggestive of actions on both the initial appraisal and attentional processing of affective stimuli. This approach may therefore provide a framework for linking psychological and biological processes in emotional disorders and their treatment. Antidepressants may not directly modulate mood and anxiety but rather allow a different perspective for our ongoing evaluation of our self, the world and the future.
spellingShingle Harmer, C
Serotonin and emotional processing: does it help explain antidepressant drug action?
title Serotonin and emotional processing: does it help explain antidepressant drug action?
title_full Serotonin and emotional processing: does it help explain antidepressant drug action?
title_fullStr Serotonin and emotional processing: does it help explain antidepressant drug action?
title_full_unstemmed Serotonin and emotional processing: does it help explain antidepressant drug action?
title_short Serotonin and emotional processing: does it help explain antidepressant drug action?
title_sort serotonin and emotional processing does it help explain antidepressant drug action
work_keys_str_mv AT harmerc serotoninandemotionalprocessingdoesithelpexplainantidepressantdrugaction