The effect of a single dose of Citalopram on motion direction discrimination
Alice
K.
Lagas1, 2*,
Cathy
M.
Stinear2, 3,
Winston
D.
Byblow2, 4,
Bruce
R.
Russel2, 5,
Robert
R.
Kydd2, 6 and
Benjamin
Thompson1, 2
-
1
University of Auckland, Department of Optometry and Vision Science, New Zealand
-
2
Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, New Zealand
-
3
University of Auckland, School of Medicine, New Zealand
-
4
University of Auckland, Department of Sport and Exercise Science, New Zealand
-
5
University of Auckland, Department of Pyschological Medicine, New Zealand
-
6
University of Auckland, Department of Psychological Medicine, New Zealand
Background
A single dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) Citalopram has been shown to transiently enhance plasticity of the human motor cortex. SSRIs have also been found to enhance visual cortex plasticity in animal models. The aim of this study was to test whether a single dose of Citalopram would enhance performance of a challenging visual motion direction discrimination task in adult humans.
Method
Psychometric functions for direction discrimination of two consecutively presented dynamic dot fields were measured at baseline and after a single dose of either Citalopram (20mg, n = 10) or placebo (n = 10). Each function consisted of 1400 individual trials. Participants were male, had normal vision, were aged 19 to 38years and were randomized to drug or placebo. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was also used to measure phosphene thresholds, an index of visual cortex excitability.
Results
Citalopram tended to impair task performance relative to placebo (t = 2.1, p = 0.05). Phosphene threshold measurements were successful for 11 participants and did not differ between the two groups.
Discussion
A single dose of Citalopram tended to impair performance/consolidation of a challenging visual task relative to placebo in observers with normal vision. It remains to be seen whether SSRIs can enhance plasticity in observers with abnormal visual function.
Keywords:
Acute SSRIs,
Citalopram,
motion discrimination,
visual perceptual learning,
phosphene threshold,
Serotonin
Conference:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Sensation and Perception
Citation:
Lagas
AK,
Stinear
CM,
Byblow
WD,
Russel
BR,
Kydd
RR and
Thompson
B
(2013). The effect of a single dose of Citalopram on motion direction discrimination.
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00031
Copyright:
The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers.
They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters.
The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated.
Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed.
For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions.
Received:
15 Oct 2013;
Published Online:
25 Nov 2013.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Alice K Lagas, University of Auckland, Department of Optometry and Vision Science, Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand, a.lagas@auckland.ac.nz