title: Change in electrodermal activity after acute tryptophan depletion associated with aggression in young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
abstract: We investigated the impact of acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) and reduced brain serotonin synthesis on physiological arousal in 15 young people with ADHD participating in an aggression-inducing game. ATD was not associated with altered physiological arousal, as indexed by electrodermal activity (EDA). Baseline aggression was negatively correlated with the mean ATD effect on EDA. In accordance with the low arousal theory related to aggressive behavior, subjects with reduced physiological responsiveness/lower electrodermal reactivity to ATD tended to display elevated externalizing behavior.
authors.affiliation: Translational Neuroscience in Psychiatry and Neurology, Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Neuenhofer Weg 21, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: von Polier
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Biskup
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Kötting
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bubenzer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Helmbold
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eisert
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Gaber
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Zepf
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency*
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin; D014364:Tryptophan