Trial reportPsychopharmacology2016
Empathic accuracy and oxytocin after tryptophan depletion in adults at risk for depression.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Tryptophan-enriched diet or 5-hydroxytryptophan supplementation given in a randomized controlled trial impacts social cognition on a neural and behavioral level.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- A moderate dose of alcohol selectively reduces empathic accuracy.Psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Article
- Victims of Bullying: Emotion Recognition and Understanding.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Empathic Accuracy in Clinical Populations.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Review
- Oxytocin reactivity to an emotional challenge paradigm and its relation to social-cognitive functions in healthy volunteers.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2019Article
- Emotional Roles of Mono-Aminergic Neurotransmitters in Major Depressive Disorder and Anxiety Disorders.Frontiers in psychology · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleMajor depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with disturbances in social functioning and in the brain serotonin system. Reduced levels of serotonin may negatively influence social functioning, for example by impairing the recognition of facial emotion expressions.
objectivesThe present study investigated the effect of acute tryptophan depletion (ATD), which reduces brain serotonin, on a related component of social functioning, empathic accuracy (EA), and oxytocin levels.
methodsIndividuals with (FH+) and without (FH−) a family history of MDD participated in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study. On two separate test days, participants ingested tryptophan-deficient and nutritionally balanced amino acid mixtures. Six hours later, they performed an EA task, which involved watching videos of people recounting autobiographical emotional events. While watching, participants continuously rated how these people felt during the recounting. Mood state was repeatedly assessed using the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule and a series of visual analogue scales. Blood samples obtained at baseline and 5 h after mixture ingestion were assessed for tryptophan and oxytocin levels.
resultsATD decreased circulating levels of tryptophan and oxytocin. Nevertheless, there were no significant effects of ATD on EA or mood in either FH group.
conclusionsWhile previous studies have shown that acute reductions in brain serotonin alter the recognition of facial emotion expressions in never-depressed individuals, the present study suggests that empathic abilities may remain unaffected.
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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.