title: Early effects of duloxetine on emotion recognition in healthy volunteers.
abstract: The serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) duloxetine is an effective treatment for major depression and generalised anxiety disorder. Neuropsychological models of antidepressant drug action suggest therapeutic effects might be mediated by the early correction of maladaptive biases in emotion processing, including the recognition of emotional expressions. Sub-chronic administration of duloxetine (for two weeks) produces adaptive changes in neural circuitry implicated in emotion processing; however, its effects on emotional expression recognition are unknown. Forty healthy participants were randomised to receive either 14 days of duloxetine (60 mg/day, titrated from 30 mg after three days) or matched placebo (with sham titration) in a double-blind, between-groups, repeated-measures design. On day 0 and day 14 participants completed a computerised emotional expression recognition task that measured sensitivity to the six primary emotions. Thirty-eight participants (19 per group) completed their course of tablets and were included in the analysis. Results provide evidence that duloxetine, compared to placebo, may reduce the accurate recognition of sadness. Drug effects were driven by changes in participants' ability to correctly detect subtle expressions of sadness, with greater change observed in the placebo relative to the duloxetine group. These effects occurred in the absence of changes in mood. Our preliminary findings require replication, but complement recent evidence that sadness recognition is a therapeutic target in major depression, and a mechanism through which SNRIs could resolve negative biases in emotion processing to achieve therapeutic effects.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bamford
authors.affiliation: School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Penton-Voak
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Verity
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pinkney
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.affiliation: School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Marcus R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Munafò
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK m.j.garner@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D000068736:Duloxetine Hydrochloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects*; D000068760:Serotonin and Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000068760:Serotonin and Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors; D000068736:Duloxetine Hydrochloride
keywords: Depression; anxiety; duloxetine; emotion recognition; sadness