Abstract
Background and objective: 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.Methods: 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).Results: Escitalopram significantly decreased the activity in rostral ACC during aStroop compared to cStroop (p < 0.05). In the absence of escitalopram, both aStroop and cStroop significantly activated ACC and DLPFC (Z ≥ 2.3, p < 0.05).Conclusion: 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.
Highlights
The cognitive control of behavior refers to a set of executive functions that enables a person to maintain goal directed activity in a changing environment by using continuously updated problem solving [1, 2]
Escitalopram significantly decreased the activity in rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during affective counting Stroop task (aStroop) compared to counting Stroop task (cStroop) (p < 0.05)
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
Summary
The cognitive control of behavior refers to a set of executive functions that enables a person to maintain goal directed activity in a changing environment by using continuously updated problem solving [1, 2]. Impaired cognitive control of behavior is characteristic of a number of psychiatric disorders, such as depression [3] and schizophrenia [4]. The Stroop task requires that a person can maintain focused attention and is capable of continuous problem solving in the presence of conflicting or distracting stimuli. The counting Stroop task (cStroop) is a version of the task that was created for use in brain scanning experiments [7]. The cStroop was further developed into a version with distracting affective stimuli – the affective counting Stroop task (aStroop) [8]. 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
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