ArticleBrain : a journal of neurology2014
Response inhibition and serotonin in autism: a functional MRI study using acute tryptophan depletion.
Article in Brain : a journal of neurology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Specificity in the commonalities of inhibition control: using meta-analysis and regression analysis to identify the key brain regions in psychiatric disorders.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2024Pooled it
- Executive Function in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-analysis of fMRI Studies.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2020Pooled it
- Comparative meta-analyses of brain structural and functional abnormalities during cognitive control in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.Psychological medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Modulation of atypical brain activation during executive functioning in autism: a pharmacological MRI study of tianeptine.Molecular autism · 2021Trial
- Modulation of brain activation during executive functioning in autism with citalopram.Translational psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Comparative Effects of Methylphenidate, Modafinil, and MDMA on Response Inhibition Neural Networks in Healthy Subjects.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- Autism and Cortical Thickness Deviation From Neurotypical Controls: Evidence for a Spatial Association With Serotonin Receptors.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Article
- Depression in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Neurobiological Convergence and Emerging Therapeutic Strategies.Biology · 2026Review
- μ Opioid Modulation of Sensorimotor Functional Connectivity in Autism: Insights From a Pharmacological Neuroimaging Investigation Using Tianeptine.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Midbrain hypoactivation and mesocortical hypoconnectivity in inhibitory control learning in autism.Brain communications · 2026Article
- Sleep Disorders in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Developmental Impact and Intervention Strategies.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Autoantibody profiling of autism spectrum disorder patients with monoamine oxidase a deficiency.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Feasibility and usability of remote transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for self-regulation in children with autism: protocol for a randomized controlled pilot study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Relationships between brain activity, tryptophan-related gut metabolites, and autism symptomatology.Nature communications · 2025Observational
- Does the kynurenine pathway play a pathogenic role in autism spectrum disorder?Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- Measuring tryptophan dynamics using fast scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon fiber microelectrodes with improved sensitivity and selectivity.RSC advances · 2023Article
- Reduced inferior fronto-insular-thalamic activation during failed inhibition in young adults with combined ASD and ADHD compared to typically developing and pure disorder groups.Translational psychiatry · 2023Article
- Effects of sensory integration training on balance function and executive function in children with autism spectrum disorder: evidence from Footscan and fNIRS.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Oxytocin and serotonin in the modulation of neural function: Neurobiological underpinnings of autism-related behavior.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
It has been suggested that the restricted, stereotyped and repetitive behaviours typically found in autism are underpinned by deficits of inhibitory control. The biological basis of this is unknown but may include differences in the modulatory role of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, which are implicated in the condition. However, this has never been tested directly. We therefore assessed the modifying role of serotonin on inhibitory brain function during a Go/No-Go task in 14 adults with autism and normal intelligence and 14 control subjects that did not differ in gender, age and intelligence. We undertook a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of acute tryptophan depletion using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Following sham, adults with autism relative to controls had reduced activation in key inhibitory regions of inferior frontal cortex and thalamus, but increased activation of caudate and cerebellum. However, brain activation was modulated in opposite ways by depletion in each group. Within autistic individuals depletion upregulated fronto-thalamic activations and downregulated striato-cerebellar activations toward control sham levels, completely 'normalizing' the fronto-cerebellar dysfunctions. The opposite pattern occurred in controls. Moreover, the severity of autism was related to the degree of differential modulation by depletion within frontal, striatal and thalamic regions. Our findings demonstrate that individuals with autism have abnormal inhibitory networks, and that serotonin has a differential, opposite, effect on them in adults with and without autism. Together these factors may partially explain the severity of autistic behaviours and/or provide a novel (tractable) treatment target.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.