School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
J Psychopharmacol. 2011 Oct;25(10):1337-43. doi: 10.1177/0269881110389094. Epub 2011 Jan 24.
Few studies have investigated the function of the serotonin (5-HT) system in the elderly. Previous studies have shown effects of reducing serotonin function, by acute tryptophan depletion (ATD), on neuropsychological function in healthy subjects but this technique has not previously been employed over a wide age range in the elderly. This study compared the effects of ATD on mood, cognitive function and motor function in two groups of healthy volunteers, one group aged 50-69 and the other aged 70-89. The effects of ATD were investigated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced, crossover, randomized design. The effects of ATD were not significantly different between age groups, suggesting that there is relatively little functional change across these age ranges. Compared with studies in much younger age groups there was, however, more evidence of an adverse effect of ATD on psychomotor function and working memory. There was no effect of ATD on mood despite inclusion of subjects with a family history of depression.
鲜有研究调查过 5-羟色胺（5-HT）系统在老年人中的功能。既往研究显示，急性色氨酸耗竭（ATD）可降低 5-HT 功能，对健康受试者的神经心理学功能产生影响，但该技术以前并未在老年人的广泛年龄范围内应用。本研究比较了 ATD 在两组健康志愿者中的作用，一组年龄为 50-69 岁，另一组年龄为 70-89 岁。采用双盲、安慰剂对照、交叉、随机设计来研究 ATD 的作用。ATD 的作用在两个年龄组之间无显著差异，表明这些年龄范围内的功能变化相对较小。与年龄更小的研究相比，ATD 对精神运动功能和工作记忆的不良影响证据更多。尽管纳入了有抑郁家族史的受试者，但 ATD 对情绪没有影响。
