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Related Experiment Videos

Amphetamine modulates human incentive processing.

Brian Knutson1, James M Bjork, Grace W Fong

  • 1Department of Psychology, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA. knutson@psych.stanford.edu

Neuron
|July 21, 2004
PubMed
Summary
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Dextroamphetamine (AMPH) may help balance brain responses to potential gains and losses by enhancing sustained dopamine activity. This psychostimulant treatment could improve incentive processing and mood in individuals.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychopharmacology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Psychostimulants like dextroamphetamine (AMPH) are known to affect dopamine kinetics in the ventral striatum (VS).
  • These substances can also enhance psychological functions such as mood and attention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effects of AMPH on brain activity and affect during incentive processing.
  • To examine how AMPH influences dopamine kinetics in the VS using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Main Methods:

  • A within-subject, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted.
  • Eight healthy volunteers received either AMPH (0.25 mg/kg) or a placebo (PLAC) orally in counterbalanced sessions.
  • Event-related fMRI was used to measure brain activity during a monetary gain and loss anticipation task.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • AMPH treatment enhanced tonic over phasic activation in the ventral striatum (VS).
  • This resulted in "equalized" levels of VS activity and positive arousal during anticipation of both gains and losses.
  • AMPH modulated brain responses to incentive stimuli.

Conclusions:

  • Therapeutic effects of amphetamine in incentive processing may stem from reducing the disparity between anticipating gains and losses.
  • AMPH's ability to normalize VS activity could underlie its mood and attention-enhancing effects.
  • Findings provide insights into the neurobiological mechanisms of psychostimulant action on reward circuitry.