AUTHOR=Rahm Christoffer G.

TITLE=Differential Effects of Single-Dose Escitalopram on Cognitive and Affective Interference during Stroop Task

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00021

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00021

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background and objective:</bold> Our aim was to study the regulatory role of serotonin [(5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] on two key nodes in the cognitive control networks – the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). We hypothesized that increasing the levels of 5-HT would preferentially modulate the activity in ACC during cognitive control during interference by negative affects compared to cognitive control during interference by a superimposed cognitive task.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation on 11 healthy individuals, comparing the effects of the selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitor escitalopram on brain oxygenation level dependent signals in the ACC and the DLPFC using affective and cognitive counting Stroop paradigms (aStroop and cStroop).</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Escitalopram significantly decreased the activity in rostral ACC during aStroop compared to cStroop (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). In the absence of escitalopram, both aStroop and cStroop significantly activated ACC and DLPFC (<italic>Z</italic> ≥ 2.3, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> We conclude that escitalopram in a region and task specific manner modified the cognitive control networks and preferentially decreased activity induced by affective interference in the ACC.</p>