Serotonin modulation of cerebral glucose metabolism in normal aging.
Age-related alterations in serotonin function may increase the vulnerability to psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders in late life. The neuroendocrine and cerebral metabolic response to the acute administration of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, citalopram (40mg, IV), was measured in 17 normal control subjects using positron emission tomography (PET) to evaluate changes in serotonin function with normal aging. The citalopram-induced change in cerebral metabolism was positively correlated with age in the right precuneus, right paracentral lobule, and left middle temporal gyrus and negatively correlated with age in the left anterior cingulate gyrus, right inferior and middle frontal gyri, right insula, and right inferior parietal lobule. The positive correlations in mainly posterior brain regions indicate that normal aging is associated with an increase in metabolism after citalopram administration, whereas the negative correlations in mainly anterior brain regions indicate that normal aging is associated with a greater decrease in metabolism. These results suggest different compensatory processes in anterior compared to posterior brain regions secondary to the age-related loss of serotonin innervation.
Goldberg
Sara
S
Department of Psychiatry Research, The Zucker Hillside Hospital, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, 75-59 263rd Street, Glen Oaks, NY 11004, USA.
Smith
Gwenn S
GS
Barnes
Anna
A
Ma
Yilong
Y
Kramer
Elisse
E
Robeson
Kimberly
K
Kirshner
Margaret
M
Pollock
Bruce G
BG
Eidelberg
David
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015283:Citalopram / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000187:drug effects; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013997:Time Factors; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000379:methods
D015283:Citalopram; D005947:Glucose; D006854:Hydrocortisone; D011388:Prolactin; D012701:Serotonin; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors