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Early effects of duloxetine on emotion recognition in healthy volunteers

Early effects of duloxetine on emotion recognition in healthy volunteers
Early effects of duloxetine on emotion recognition in healthy volunteers
The serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) duloxetine is an effective treatment for major depression and generalized 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 randomized to receive either 14 days of duloxetine (60mg/day, titrated from 30mg after 3 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 computerized 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 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.
0269-8811
Bamford, S.
ff8b456d-6769-4747-94b5-b69d5e868207
Penton-Voak, I.
f4b187d0-72a2-423d-900a-0c1de27e6253
Pinkney, V.
50f67e46-cad8-4e2e-96e6-c4c8b5c7cbfc
Baldwin, D.S.
1beaa192-0ef1-4914-897a-3a49fc2ed15e
Munafo, M.R.
9f08cda8-d2ed-4e48-b7f8-7f29fa33efc9
Garner, M.
3221c5b3-b951-4fec-b456-ec449e4ce072
Bamford, S.
ff8b456d-6769-4747-94b5-b69d5e868207
Penton-Voak, I.
f4b187d0-72a2-423d-900a-0c1de27e6253
Pinkney, V.
50f67e46-cad8-4e2e-96e6-c4c8b5c7cbfc
Baldwin, D.S.
1beaa192-0ef1-4914-897a-3a49fc2ed15e
Munafo, M.R.
9f08cda8-d2ed-4e48-b7f8-7f29fa33efc9
Garner, M.
3221c5b3-b951-4fec-b456-ec449e4ce072

Bamford, S., Penton-Voak, I., Pinkney, V., Baldwin, D.S., Munafo, M.R. and Garner, M. (2015) Early effects of duloxetine on emotion recognition in healthy volunteers. Journal of Psychopharmacology. (In Press)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) duloxetine is an effective treatment for major depression and generalized 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 randomized to receive either 14 days of duloxetine (60mg/day, titrated from 30mg after 3 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 computerized 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 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.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 2015
Organisations: Clinical Neuroscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 373060
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373060
ISSN: 0269-8811
PURE UUID: 1b04889c-44bc-46c1-b42b-00f0a3861c14
ORCID for D.S. Baldwin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3343-0907
ORCID for M. Garner: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9481-2226

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 06 Jan 2015 14:25
Last modified: 10 Aug 2023 01:36

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Contributors

Author: S. Bamford
Author: I. Penton-Voak
Author: V. Pinkney
Author: D.S. Baldwin ORCID iD
Author: M.R. Munafo
Author: M. Garner ORCID iD

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