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Psychometric schizotypy modulates levodopa effects on lateralized lexical decision performance
Christine Mohr1, Peter Krummenacher, Theodor Landis
1Department of Neurology, Functional Brain Mapping Laboratory, University Hospital Geneva, Rue Micheli-du-Crest 24, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. christine.mohr@bristol.ac.uk
Journal of Psychiatric Research
|February 24, 2005
Summary
Dopamine (DA) administration in healthy individuals influences brain language laterality. Levodopa treatment modulated left-hemispheric dominance for language based on participants' positive and negative schizotypal traits.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Psychotic thought is linked to reduced left-hemisphere language dominance.
- Dopamine (DA) plays a role in psychosis and semantic processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if controlled dopamine administration affects basic language functions.
- To determine if these effects vary with schizophrenia-associated thought patterns.
Main Methods:
- Forty healthy males performed a tachistoscopic lexical decision task.
- Participants received either levodopa (a DA agonist) or a placebo.
- Performance was analyzed based on positive (magical ideation) and negative (physical anhedonia) schizotypal traits.
Main Results:
- Levodopa did not directly affect task performance but altered language laterality patterns.
- In the placebo group, higher magical ideation correlated with increased right-hemisphere language contribution.
- In the levodopa group, higher physical anhedonia correlated with enhanced left-hemisphere performance.
Conclusions:
- Dopamine agonists may restore left-hemispheric language dominance in healthy individuals.
- This restoration is modulated by positive and negative schizotypal traits.
- The healthy brain may compensate for increased dopamine via neurochemical mechanisms, especially in those with psychotic-like features.