Serotonin 2A receptors, citalopram and tryptophan-depletion: A multimodal imaging study of their interactions during response inhibition

Julian Macoveanu, Bettina Hornboll, Rebecca Elliott, David Erritzoe, Olaf B. Paulson, Hartwig Siebner, Gitte M. Knudsen, James B. Rowe

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Poor behavioral inhibition is a common feature of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Successful inhibition of a prepotent response in 'NoGo' paradigms requires the integrity of both the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the serotonergic system. We investigated individual differences in serotonergic regulation of response inhibition. In 24 healthy adults, we used 18 F-altanserin positron emission tomography to assess cerebral 5-HT 2A receptors, which have been related to impulsivity. We then investigated the impact of two acute manipulations of brain serotonin levels on behavioral and neural correlates of inhibition using intravenous citalopram and acute tryptophan depletion during functional magnetic resonance imaging. We adapted the NoGo paradigm to isolate effects on inhibition per se as opposed to other aspects of the NoGo paradigm. Successful NoGo inhibition was associated with greater activation of the right IFG compared to control trials with alternative responses, indicating that the IFG is activated with inhibition in NoGo trials rather than other aspects of invoked cognitive control. Activation of the left IFG during NoGo trials was greater with citalopram than acute tryptophan depletion. Moreover, with the NoGo-type of response inhibition, the right IFG displayed an interaction between the type of serotonergic challenge and neocortical 5-HT 2A receptor binding. Specifically, acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) produced a relatively larger NoGo response in the right IFG in subjects with low 5-HT 2A BP P but reduced the NoGo response in those with high 5-HT 2A BP P. These links between serotonergic function and response inhibition in healthy subjects may help to interpret serotonergic abnormalities underlying impulsivity in neuropsychiatric disorders. © 2013 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)996-1005
    Number of pages9
    JournalNeuropsychopharmacology
    Volume38
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2013

    Keywords

    • 5-HT2A receptor
    • altanserin
    • citalopram
    • fMRI
    • inhibition
    • serotonin

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