Scientists have worked out why common anti-depressants cause around half of users to feel emotionally ‘blunted’. In a study published today, they show that the drugs affect reinforcement learning, an important behavioral process that allows us to learn from our environment. According to the NHS,
, sought to address this by recruiting healthy volunteers and administering escitalopram, an SSRI known to be one of the best-tolerated, over several weeks and assessing the impact the drug had on their performance on a suite of cognitive tests.
However, the key novel finding was that there was reduced reinforcement sensitivity on two tasks for the escitalopram group compared to those on placebo. Reinforcement learning is how we learn from feedback from our actions and environment. The team found that participants taking escitalopram were less likely to use the positive and negative feedback to guide their learning of the task compared with participants on placebo. This suggests that the drug affected their sensitivity to the rewards and their ability to respond accordingly.
Professor Barbara Sahakian, senior author, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow at Clare Hall, said: “Emotional blunting is a common side effect of SSRI antidepressants. In a way, this may be in part how they work – they take away some of the emotional pain that people who experience depression feel, but, unfortunately, it seems that they also take away some of the enjoyment.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
4 Common Hygiene Habits That Are Making You Sick, Doctor SaysKeeping up with your daily hygiene is not just about looking presentable. A doctor shares four bad hygiene habits that are making you sick.
Read more »
Common talks performing on Broadway, activism, fatherhoodIn this week’s Sunday Sitdown, rapper and actor Common joins Willie Geist to talk about his move to acting on stage for the Broadway hit “Between Riverside and Crazy” and its connection to his long-time advocacy for criminal justice reform.
Read more »
Swift firing of police is rare, but could become more commonThose studying police and criminal justice issues said the speed with which five Memphis police officers were fired following the traffic stop of a man who later died is unusual but could become more common
Read more »
Swift firing of police is rare, but could become more commonThose studying police and criminal justice issues said the speed with which five Memphis police officers were fired following the traffic stop of a man who later died is unusual but could become more common
Read more »
Swift firing of police is rare, but could become more commonBOSTON (AP) — The speed with which five Memphis police officers were fired following the traffic stop of a man who later died in a hospital is unusual but could become more common, according …
Read more »
Swift firing of police is rare, but could become more commonBOSTON (AP) — The speed with which five Memphis police officers were fired following the traffic stop of a man who later died in a hospital is unusual but could become more common, according to those studying police and criminal justice issues.
Read more »