The Effects of Dopamine on Reward Processing

Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a single low dose of the D2/D3 antagonist amisulpride on reward processing. More generally, this study will test the role of dopamine (a naturally occurring brain chemical) in depression. Hypotheses: Administration of a single low dose of the D2/D3 antagonist amisulpride will (1) improve performance in a behavioral task assessing learning from feedback and (2) boost activation in reward-related brain regions.

Timeline

Start

2012-02

Primary completion

2016-05

Completion

2016-05

Publications

• Background Admon R, Kaiser RH, Dillon DG, Beltzer M, Goer F, Olson DP, Vitaliano G, Pizzagalli DA. Dopaminergic Enhancement of Striatal Response to Reward in Major Depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2017 Apr 1;174(4):378-386. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16010111. Epub 2016 Oct 24.
• Liu Y, Admon R, Mellem MS, Belleau EL, Kaiser RH, Clegg R, Beltzer M, Goer F, Vitaliano G, Ahammad P, Pizzagalli DA. Machine Learning Identifies Large-Scale Reward-Related Activity Modulated by Dopaminergic Enhancement in Major Depression. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2020 Feb;5(2):163-172. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.10.002. Epub 2019 Oct 22.

Drugs

Indications