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5-Ht and Human Anxiety: Evidence from Studies Using Acute Tryptophan Depletion

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Tryptophan, Serotonin, and Melatonin

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 467))

Abstract

There is abundant evidence that serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is involved in anxiety in both animals and humans but there is conflicting evidence for the precise role it plays. Acute tryptophan depletion provides a technique for investigating a global reduction in brain 5-HT function and we have investigated its effect on anxiety in drug-free panic disorder patients and normal volunteers. We found little effect on general levels of anxiety but it enhanced the effect of a panic challenge using 5% carbon dioxide (5%CO2) in panic disorder patients. The effect in normal volunteers was less clear with no overall effect following 5%CO2 challenge or the psychological challenge of a simulated public speaking task. These results are discussed in relation to the literature and are broadly supportive of the hypothesis that 5-HT acts to inhibit panic anxiety at the level of the periaqueductal grey but facilitates general and conditioned anxiety at the level of medial temporal lobe structures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester, Room G809, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK

    I. M. Anderson

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, Rawnsley Building, Manchester Royal Infirmary Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9WL, UK

    C. Mortimore

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Gerald Huether

  2. Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Walter Kochen

  3. Department of Food Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Thomas J. Simat

  4. Department of Food Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Hans Steinhart

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Anderson, I.M., Mortimore, C. (1999). 5-Ht and Human Anxiety: Evidence from Studies Using Acute Tryptophan Depletion. In: Huether, G., Kochen, W., Simat, T.J., Steinhart, H. (eds) Tryptophan, Serotonin, and Melatonin. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 467. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4709-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4709-9_6

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