The effects of the serotonergic drugs citalopram and buspirone on perceptual rivalry
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1
University of Melbourne, Psychological Sciences, Australia
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2
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Australia
When sensory input is truly ambiguous, conscious perception tends to switch between the two mutually exclusive interpretations in a phenomenon known as perceptual rivalry. Previous research has suggested that the timing of these switches can be altered by a range of serotonergic drugs that either selectively or non-selectively activate the 5-HT1A receptor. We aimed to investigate whether this change in perceptual rivalry switch rate was due to global levels of serotonin in the brain, or to specific activation of the 5-HT1A receptor. We used two serotonergic drugs in twelve healthy participants: citalopram to increase global levels of serotonin, and buspirone to activate 5-HT1A receptors. Perceptual testing included binocular rivalry and auditory stream segregation. Participants were asked to indicate when their conscious awareness of the stimulus changed between the two possible perceptual states. While several individual participants showed changes in switch rate across conditions, the direction of change was not consistent across participants. Therefore, there were no significant differences in switch rate between citalopram, buspirone, and placebo conditions in visual and auditory paradigms. Unlike previous studies, we did not find evidence that changes in serotonin affect the rate of switch in perceptual rivalry. It is possible that participants’ general arousal levels may have been affected by other methodological factors—such as refraining from caffeine and the extended waiting time required for drugs to reach peak plasma levels—and that these factors interacted with the affects of the drugs on rivalry switch rate. Individual differences in reactions to the drugs may also play a role.
Keywords:
Binocular Rivalry,
auditory streaming,
Serotonin,
5-HT1A receptor,
Buspirone,
Citalopram,
Bistable stimuli
Conference:
ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 29 Nov - 2 Dec, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Sensation and Perception
Citation:
Stanley
J,
Sundram
S and
Carter
O
(2012). The effects of the serotonergic drugs citalopram and buspirone on perceptual rivalry.
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.208.00087
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Received:
25 Oct 2012;
Published Online:
07 Nov 2012.
*
Correspondence:
Ms. Jody Stanley, University of Melbourne, Psychological Sciences, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia, jodyjlstanley@gmail.com