HUMAN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

Hum[ Psychopharmacol[ Clin[ Exp[ 04\ 295Ð296 "1999#

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Letter to the Editor

Sirs the cognitive and psychomotor e}ects of acutely

Serotonin and information processin`] a phar!
macodynamic study on the effects of citalopram on
co`nitive and psychomotor function
Psychopharmacological studies have shown an
enhancement of sustained attention\ improved con!
trol of motor responses to sensory stimuli and
improved e.ciency of information processing with
enhancement of serotonergic function "Hindmarch\
0884#[ Serotonin re!uptake inhibitors "SSRI# such
as sertraline\ ~uoxetine\ ~uvoxamine\ paroxetine
and citalopram exert their pharmacological actions
by inhibiting the re!uptake of serotonin "4!HT#\
varying in their potencies of inhibition[ It has been
suggested that within the SSRI class\ di}erent anti!
depressants a}ect cognition and psychomotor per!
formance di}erentially\ either neutrally or
positively\ presumably dependent on their relative
selectivity and potency for 4!HT re!uptake inhi!
bition "Amado!Boccara et al[\ 0884#[
The aim of the present study was to examine
increasing serotonin concentrations in the central
nervous system "CNS#\ after administration of the
most selective SSRI\ citalopram\ in nine healthy
male subjects aged 19Ð23 years "mean2SD^
14=224=5#[ All subjects received a single clinical
dose of either placebo or citalopram "19 mg#\ in a
double!blind placebo!controlled design[ Cognitive
and psychomotor tests were examined pre! and 0\
1 and 3 h post drug administration[ The tests per!
formed included the Critical Flicker Fusion test
"CFF#\ which assesses the information processing
capacity in the central nervous system\ and the
Choice Reaction Time test "CRT#\ which measures
psychomotor speed[ Citalopram improved psy!
chomotor responses to sensory stimuli and sus!
tained attention\ and information processing
capacity with signi_cant decreases in movement
times of the CRT test "F  00=46\ p ³ 9=94#\ and
an increase in CFF threshold "F  00=33\ p ³ 9=90#
"see Table 0#[
These _ndings are comparable with the

Table 0[ Maximum change for critical ~icker fusion thresholds and movement time "choice reaction time# relative
to baseline for placebo and citalopram

Critical ~icker fusion thresholds "Hz#

Drug condition Time point Mean2SD Maximum change F

relative to baseline

Placebo Base line 21=6324=4 Ð

Tmax 21=2825=12 −9=24
Citalopram Base line 21=1824=85 Ð
Tmax 22=6724=58 ¦0=38 00=33

Choice reaction time "movement time# "s#

Placebo Base line 9=3429=94 Ð

Tmax 9=3529=95 ¦9=90
Citalopram Base line 9=3329=93 Ð
Tmax 9=3629=93 −9=92 00=46

 p³9=90 compared to placebo ""¦# better than placebo "−# worse than placebo#[ Repeated measures ANOVA\ planned compari!
sons[

Copyright Þ 1999 John Wiley + Sons\ Ltd[

 LETTER TO THE EDITOR 296

pharmacodynamic e}ects of the SSRIs sertraline and REFERENCES

paroxetine which have been both shown to increase Amado!Boccara I\ Gougoulis N\ Poirier Littre MF\ Gal!
CFF threshold and decrease CRT "Hindmarch and inowski A\ Loo H[ 0884[ E}ects of antidepressants on
Bhatti\ 0877^ Sherwood and Hindmarch\ 0882^ Kerr cognitive functions] a review[ Neurosci Biobehav Rev
et al[\ 0880#[ However\ the _ndings are contrary to 08"2#] 368Ð382[
the e}ects of other SSRIs\ ~uvoxamine and ~uox! Hindmarch I[ 0884[ The behavioural toxicity of the selec!
etine\ which were both shown to have neutral e}ects tive serotonin reuptake inhibitors[ Int Clin Psychiat
on CFF and CRT\ compared to placebo "Hind! 8"Suppl[ 3#] 02Ð06[
march\ 0884#[ The reason for this discrepancy may Hindmarch I\ Bhatti JZ[ 0877[ Psychopharmacological
be related to the relative potencies of the SSRIs for e}ects of sertraline in normal\ healthy volunteers[ Eur
inhibition of serotonin re!uptake[ The SSRIs that J Clin Pharmacol 24] 110Ð112[
Hyttel J[ 0883[ Pharmacological characterization of selec!
had positive e}ects\ have higher reported potencies
tive serotonin reuptake inhibitors "SSRIs#[ Int J Clin
for serotonin uptake inhibition "sertraline\ 9=08 nM^ Psychopharmacol 8"Suppl[ 0#] 08Ð15[
paroxetine\ 9=18 nM^ citalopram\ 0=7 nM than those Kerr JS\ Sherwood N\ Hindmarch I[ 0880[ The com!
that had neutral e}ects "~uvoxamine\ 2=7 nM^ ~uox! parative psychopharmacology of 4HT reuptake inhibi!
etine\ 5=7 nM "Hyttel\ 0883#[ Therefore the observed tors[ Hum Psychopharmacol 5] 202Ð206[
behavioural e}ect may be related to the relative Sherwood N\ Hindmarch I[ 0882[ A comparison of _ve
potency of the compounds for inhibition of 4!HT commonly prescribed antidepressants with particular
re!uptake and as a result the relative potencies of the reference to their behavioral toxicity[ Hum Psy!
compounds to increase 4!HT neurotransmission[ In chopharmacol 7] 306Ð311[
conclusion\ our _ndings suggest that increasing sero!
tonergic neurotransmission improved psychomotor
responses to sensory stimuli and sustained attention\
and information processing capacity\ and that this
e}ect is dependent on the relative potency of the
SSRI to inhibit re!uptake of serotonin[
PRADEEP J[ NATHAN
CON STOUGH
GEETHA SITERAM
Brain Sciences Institute\
Swinburne University of Technolo`y
Victoria 2011\
Australia

Copyright Þ 1999 John Wiley + Sons\ Ltd[ Hum[ Psychopharmacol[ Clin[ Exp[ 04\ 295Ð296 "1999#