A recent study demonstrated that the drug prucalopride, a common laxative, improved cognitive function and memory in healthy volunteers by altering resting brain activity. This study revealed that prucalopride strengthens connections between cognitive networks and reduces thought-wandering activity, providing a potential treatment for symptoms of cognitive impairment and depression.
Cognitive enhancers have therapeutic potential.
Cognitive disorders often coexist with mood disorders and other psychiatric disorders, often causing significant problems. Currently available treatments are limited, but studies done in animals and humans show that drugs such as prucalopride, a laxative that activates serotonin receptors, have potential benefits for these conditions. It has been suggested that it may have therapeutic effects. However, it is still unknown how the drug affects resting brain activity.new research in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and NeuroimagingA paper published by Elsevier is now investigating the effects of this drug on healthy adults.
Serotonin receptors, especially 5-HTFourType receptors are widely distributed in different regions of the brain such as the frontal cortex, basal ganglia and hippocampus. These areas play important roles in cognitive function and mood regulation. Serotonin receptors are the main target of antidepressants, but treating mood disorders does not always reduce cognitive symptoms.
The researchers recruited 50 healthy volunteers, half of whom received six days of prucalopride, a highly selective agonist of 5-HT.Four The other half of the participants received a placebo. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, including a ‘rest scan’ where they relaxed in the scanner.
The lead author, Dr. Anharad de Catès, MRCPsych, University of Oxford, said of the study: This latest study provides a neurological mechanism by which this may occur. “
This figure shows that healthy participants who received prucalopride had better functional connectivity between key cognitive areas (posterior cingulate cortex/anterior cingulate cortex) and key cognitive networks (central executive network). indicates that That is, they appeared to strengthen connections within their cognitive networks. Credit: de Cates et al. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
Medication-treated participants showed more functional connectivity between key cognitive networks in the resting state (rsFC). This includes a more complex network between the central executive network, the brain network used to process thoughts, and the posterior and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), brain regions that control information processing and attention in the brain. It contained many rsFCs. Also, there were more rsFCs between the ACC and areas of the lateral occipital cortex, areas that help us pay attention to important objects. Furthermore, drug-treated participants showed a decrease in rsFC in the default mode network (the brain network activated during mind wandering) compared to placebo controls.
“This provides further evidence that prucalopride exerts its cognitive-enhancing effects in areas of the brain by increasing or decreasing connections between specific brain areas as appropriate,” de Cates said. It should be done,” he added.
Dr. Susanna Murphy, co-lead author and associate professor of the study, said, “To think properly, we need the right connections between and within these brain networks, and in depression these connections are abnormal. It has been shown to be,” he said. Here, participants taking prucalopride scored better on cognitive tests on the day of the scan compared to placebo participants. This suggests that the changes in rsFC observed with prucalopride may serve as a cognition-improving drug ‘feature’. “
Dr. Murphy continued, “Untreated cognitive impairment has a significant impact on the quality of life of people with depression. This study further builds on the evidence base that drugs affect 5-HT.” that reinforces.Four Serotonin receptors are a promising new way to treat depression and cognitive impairment. “
Katherine Hamer, Ph.D., professor of cognitive neuroscience and co-lead author of the study, said: for learning and memory. Together with previous data, we suggest that this drug may be useful as a cognitive-enhancing treatment for diseases such as depression. “
Cameron Carter, MD, Editor Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimagingsaid of the study: “These data show that 5-HT modulates resting-state connectivity in the brain.Four Prucalopride, a receptor agonist and putative cognition enhancer, adds to previous evidence that the drug modulates brain systems involved during intense, high-level cognitive activity and has therapeutic potential. be. “
Reference: “Effects of 5-HT4 Receptor Agonists on Functional Connectivity in the Human Brain: Cognitive Implications” Angharad N. de Cates, Marieke AG Martens, Lucy C. Wright, Daisy Gibson, Gershon Spitz, Cassandra D By Gould van Praag, Sana Suri, Philip J. Cowen, Susannah E. Murphy, Katherine J. Harmer, 23 April 2023, Available here. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.03.014
