Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
Early effects of duloxetine on emotion recognition in healthy volunteers
Journal of Psychopharmacology, Volume 29, No. 5, Year 2015
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
The serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) duloxetine is an effective treatment for major depression and generalised anxiety disorder. Neuropsychological models of antidepressant drug action suggest therapeutic effects might be mediated by the early correction of maladaptive biases in emotion processing, including the recognition of emotional expressions. Sub-chronic administration of duloxetine (for two weeks) produces adaptive changes in neural circuitry implicated in emotion processing; however, its effects on emotional expression recognition are unknown. Forty healthy participants were randomised to receive either 14 days of duloxetine (60 mg/day, titrated from 30 mg after three days) or matched placebo (with sham titration) in a double-blind, between-groups, repeated-measures design. On day 0 and day 14 participants completed a computerised emotional expression recognition task that measured sensitivity to the six primary emotions. Thirty-eight participants (19 per group) completed their course of tablets and were included in the analysis. Results provide evidence that duloxetine, compared to placebo, may reduce the accurate recognition of sadness. Drug effects were driven by changes in participants' ability to correctly detect subtle expressions of sadness, with greater change observed in the placebo relative to the duloxetine group. These effects occurred in the absence of changes in mood. Our preliminary findings require replication, but complement recent evidence that sadness recognition is a therapeutic target in major depression, and a mechanism through which SNRIs could resolve negative biases in emotion processing to achieve therapeutic effects. © 2015 The Author(s).
Authors & Co-Authors
Bamford, Susan
United Kingdom, Southampton
University of Southampton
Penton-Voak, Ian S.
United Kingdom, Bristol
University of Bristol
Pinkney, Verity
United Kingdom, Southampton
University of Southampton
Baldwin, David S.
United Kingdom, Southampton
University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine
Munafo, Marcus R.
United Kingdom, Bristol
University of Bristol
United Kingdom, Nottingham
Uk Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies
United Kingdom, Bristol
Mrc Integrative Epidemiology Unit
Garner, Matthew J.
United Kingdom, Southampton
University of Southampton
United Kingdom, Southampton
University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine
Statistics
Citations: 11
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1177/0269881115570085
ISSN:
02698811
Research Areas
Disability
Mental Health