Previous findings in healthy humans suggest that selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRIs) modulate emotional processing via earlier changes in
attention. However, many previous studies have provided inconsistent
findings. One possible reason for such inconsistencies is that these studies
did not control for the influence of either sex or sex hormone fluctuations.
To address this inconsistency, we administered 20 mg escitalopram or
placebo for seven consecutive days in a randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled
design to sixty healthy female participants with a minimum of 3
months oral contraceptive (OC) intake. Participants performed a modified
version of an emotional flanker task before drug administration, after a single
dose, after 1 week of SSRI intake, and after a 1-month wash-out period.
Supported by Bayesian analyses, our results do not suggest a modulatory
effect of escitalopram on behavioral measures of early attentional-emotional
interaction in female individuals with regular OC use. While the specific
conditions of our task may be a contributing factor, it is also possible that
a practice effect in a healthy sample may mask the effects of escitalopram
on the attentional-emotional interplay. Consequently, 1 week of escitalopram
administration may not modulate attention toward negative emotional
distractors outside the focus of attention in healthy female participants taking
OCs. While further research in naturally cycling females and patient samples
is needed, our results represent a valuable contribution toward the preclinical
investigation of antidepressant treatment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:88252 |
| Date | 24 November 2023 |
| Creators | Beinhölzl, Nathalie, Molloy, Eóin N., Zsido, Rachel G., Richter, Thalia, Piecha, Fabian A., Zheleva, Gergana, Scharrer, Ulrike, Regenthal, Ralf, Villringer, Arno, Okon-Singer, Hadas, Sacher, Julia |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 10.3389/fnins.2022.809269 |
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