Department of Clinical Psychology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J 5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
Department of Psychology, Laboratory of Neurogenetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2021 Nov 4;11(1):21637. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-01164-y.
Understanding of emotions and intentions are key processes in social cognition at which serotonin is an important neuromodulator. Its precursor is the essential amino acid tryptophan (TRP). Reduced TRP availability leads to weaker impulse control ability and higher aggression, while TRP supplementation promotes confidence. In a double-blind placebo-controlled fMRI study with 77 healthy adults, we investigated the influence of a 4 week TRP enriched diet and an acute 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) intake on two social-cognitive tasks, a moral evaluation and an emotion recognition task. With 5-HTP, immoral behavior without negative consequences was rated as more reprehensible. Additionally, during story reading, activation in insula and supramarginal gyrus was increased after TRP intake. No significant effects of TRP on emotion recognition were identified for the whole sample. Importantly, emotion recognition ability decreased with age which was for positive emotions compensated by TRP. Since the supramarginal gyrus is associated with empathy, pain and related information integration results could be interpreted as reflecting stricter evaluation of negative behavior due to better integration of information. Improved recognition of positive emotions with TRP in older participants supports the use of a TRP-rich diet to compensate for age related decline in social-cognitive processes.
情绪和意图的理解是社会认知的关键过程，而血清素是一种重要的神经调质。它的前体是必需氨基酸色氨酸（TRP）。TRP 供应减少会导致冲动控制能力减弱和攻击性增加，而 TRP 补充则会增强信心。在一项有 77 名健康成年人参与的双盲安慰剂对照 fMRI 研究中，我们研究了 4 周 TRP 丰富饮食和急性 5-羟色氨酸（5-HTP）摄入对两项社会认知任务（道德评价和情绪识别任务）的影响。在 5-HTP 的作用下，没有负面后果的不道德行为被评为更应受谴责的行为。此外，在阅读故事时，TRP 摄入后脑岛和缘上回的激活增加。对于整个样本，没有发现 TRP 对情绪识别有显著影响。重要的是，情绪识别能力随着年龄的增长而下降，但 TRP 可以补偿积极情绪的下降。由于缘上回与同理心、疼痛和相关信息整合有关，因此研究结果可以解释为由于信息整合更好，对负面行为的评价更为严格。在年龄较大的参与者中，TRP 能更好地识别积极情绪，这支持了使用富含 TRP 的饮食来补偿与年龄相关的社会认知过程下降。
