The Roles of Serotonin and Mood in Cognition
Author Information
Author(s): Oliver J. Robinson, Barbara J. Sahakian
Primary Institution: University of Cambridge
Hypothesis
How do serotonin manipulation and mood induction affect cognitive performance in healthy individuals?
Conclusion
Serotonin and mood influence cognition in distinct ways, with serotonin affecting 'hot' tasks and mood affecting 'cold' tasks.
Supporting Evidence
- Mood influenced performance on the one touch tower task but not the affective go/no-go task.
- Acute tryptophan depletion influenced performance on the affective go/no-go task but not the one touch tower task.
- The study indicates that serotonin and mood are not closely linked in healthy individuals.
Takeaway
This study shows that how you feel and the chemicals in your brain can change how you think, but they do it in different ways.
Methodology
A double blind, placebo-controlled crossover design was used with healthy subjects undergoing mood induction and completing cognitive tasks.
Potential Biases
Potential confounding effects due to varying mood induction between subjects.
Limitations
The findings may be specific to the tasks studied and future research should vary mood induction within subjects.
Participant Demographics
34 subjects (18 female) screened for psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p < .0001
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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