title: Effects of short-term quetiapine treatment on emotional processing, sleep and circadian rhythms.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic that can stabilise mood from any index episode of bipolar disorder. This study investigated the effects of seven-day quetiapine administration on sleep, circadian rhythms and emotional processing in healthy volunteers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty healthy volunteers received 150 mg quetiapine XL for seven nights and 20 matched controls received placebo. Sleep-wake actigraphy was completed for one week both pre-dose and during drug treatment. On Day 8, participants completed emotional processing tasks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Actigraphy revealed that quetiapine treatment increased sleep duration and efficiency, delayed final wake time and had a tendency to reduce within-day variability. There were no effects of quetiapine on subjective ratings of mood or energy. Quetiapine-treated participants showed diminished bias towards positive words and away from negative words during recognition memory. Quetiapine did not significantly affect facial expression recognition, emotional word categorisation, emotion-potentiated startle or emotional word/faces dot-probe vigilance reaction times.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These changes in sleep timing and circadian rhythmicity in healthy volunteers may be relevant to quetiapine's therapeutic actions. Effects on emotional processing did not emulate the effects of antidepressants. The effects of quetiapine on sleep and circadian rhythms in patients with bipolar disorder merit further investigation to elucidate its mechanisms of action.
authors: The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors: Philippa L
authors: PL
authors: Rock
authors: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK guy.goodwin@psych.ox.ac.uk.
authors: Guy M
authors: GM
authors: Goodwin
authors: Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors: Katharina
authors: K
authors: Wulff
authors: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors: Sarah F B
authors: SF
authors: McTavish
authors: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors: Catherine J
authors: CJ
authors: Harmer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000187:drug effects*; D004644:Emotions / Q000187:drug effects*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D000069348:Quetiapine Fumarate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D000069348:Quetiapine Fumarate
keywords: Quetiapine; bipolar disorder; circadian rhythm; emotion processing; sleep