Russo S, Nielen M M A, Boon J C, Kema I P, Willemse P H B, de Vries E G E, Korf J, den Boer J A
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, PO Box 30.001, 9700, RB Groningen, The Netherlands.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2003 Jul;168(3):324-8. doi: 10.1007/s00213-003-1455-5. Epub 2003 Apr 15.
In patients suffering from metastatic carcinoid tumors, chronic disturbances of serotonergic metabolism are frequently present. Serotonin is supposed to influence a range of cognitive functions.
The present study evaluated the cognitive performance of carcinoid patients.
In 14 patients with proven carcinoid syndrome, neuropsychological functioning was studied. Visual search, sustained attention, set shifting ability and spatial working memory were assessed using tests from the CANTAB neuropsychological battery. This was compared with the performance of matched healthy controls.
Plasma tryptophan levels were lower than controls. Patients showed an enhanced ability to learn new stimulus-response associations. Sustained visual attention, however, was impaired.
Cognitive patterns were different from those found in depressive patients and partly mimicked those found in tryptophan depletion experiments. Further investigation has to point out the role of serotonergic changes in the accomplishment of affective states.
在患有转移性类癌肿瘤的患者中，血清素能代谢的慢性紊乱经常出现。血清素被认为会影响一系列认知功能。
本研究评估了类癌患者的认知表现。
对14名已证实患有类癌综合征的患者进行了神经心理功能研究。使用CANTAB神经心理测试组的测试评估视觉搜索、持续注意力、定势转换能力和空间工作记忆。并将其与匹配的健康对照组的表现进行比较。
血浆色氨酸水平低于对照组。患者学习新的刺激-反应关联的能力增强。然而，持续视觉注意力受损。
认知模式与抑郁症患者不同，部分类似于色氨酸耗竭实验中发现的模式。进一步的研究必须指出血清素能变化在情感状态形成中的作用。
