Effect of d-amphetamine on inhibition and motor planning as a function of baseline performance

• Published in: Psychopharmacologia 2010-09, Vol.211 (4), p.423-433
• Main Authors: Allman, Ava-Ann, Benkelfat, Chawki, Durand, France, Sibon, Igor, Dagher, Alain, Leyton, Marco, Baker, Glen B., O’Driscoll, Gillian A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Affect - drug effects; Amphetamines; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Blood Pressure - drug effects; Central Nervous System Stimulants - pharmacology; Cognition & reasoning; Cross-Over Studies; Dextroamphetamine - pharmacology; Dopamine; Double-Blind Method; Executive Function - drug effects; Eye movements; Female; Heart Rate - drug effects; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Motor ability; Neuropharmacology; Neurosciences; Original Investigation; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Psychiatry; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Time Factors; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0033-3158; 1432-2072
• DOI: 10.1007/s00213-010-1912-x

Rationale Baseline performance has been reported to predict dopamine (DA) effects on working memory, following an inverted-U pattern. This pattern may hold true for other executive functions that are DA-sensitive. Objectives The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of d -amphetamine, an indirect DA agonist, on two other putatively DA-sensitive executive functions, inhibition and motor planning, as a function of baseline performance. Methods Participants with no prior stimulant exposure participated in a double-blind crossover study of a single dose of 0.3 mg/kg, p.o. of d -amphetamine and placebo. Participants were divided into high and low groups, based on their performance on the antisaccade and predictive saccade tasks on the baseline day. Executive functions, mood states, heart rate and blood pressure were assessed before (T0) and after drug administration, at 1.5 (T1), 2.5 (T2) and 3.5 h (T3) post-drug. Results Antisaccade errors decreased with d -amphetamine irrespective of baseline performance ( p  = 0.025). For antisaccade latency, participants who generated short-latency antisaccades at baseline had longer latencies on d -amphetamine than placebo, while those with long-latency antisaccades at baseline had shorter latencies on d -amphetamine than placebo (drug × group, p  = 0.04). d -amphetamine did not affect motor planning. Ratings of mood improved on d -amphetamine ( p