title: The effect of decreased catecholamine transmission on ERP indices of selective attention.
abstract: This study examines the effect of decreased catecholamine transmission on event-related potential (ERP) indices of selective attention. Intravenous clonidine (1.5 micrograms/kg Catapres), droperidol (15 micrograms/kg Droleptan), or placebo were administered to healthy adult males prior to performance of a multidimensional auditory selective attention task (SAT) in which dichotically presented sequences of tone pips varied on dimensions of location (left or right ear), pitch (high or low), and duration (short or long). Subjects were required to make a button press response to infrequent "target" stimuli that matched a prespecified stimulus on the three dimensions. ERPs were recorded during the task. Clonidine led to a significant increase of processing negativity (PN) over 200-400 ms at the irrelevant location. Droperidol led to a significant increase in reaction time (RT), a significant decrease in hit rate, and an attenuation of PN over the 200- to 400-ms and 400- to 700-ms epochs. Neither substance led to a significant change in P3 amplitude. The role of catecholamines in the selective attention subprocesses of "tuning" and "switching" is discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Shelley
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Catts
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Michie
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McConaghy
mesh_terms: D000316:Adrenergic alpha-Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D003000:Clonidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004329:Droperidol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000316:Adrenergic alpha-Agonists; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D003000:Clonidine; D004329:Droperidol