A neurochemical yin and yang: does serotonin activate and norepinephrine deactivate the prefrontal cortex?

作者：Fitzgerald Paul J^*

来源：Psychopharmacology, 2011, 213(2-3): 171-182.

DOI：10.1007/s00213-010-1856-1

• Executive function
• Impulsivity
• Cognitive flexibility
• Reversal learning
• Working memory
• Fluoxetine
• Clonidine
• Propranolol
• Guanfacine

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) receives serotonergic input from the dorsal raphe nucleus of the brainstem, as well as noradrenergic input from another brainstem nucleus, the locus coeruleus. A large number of studies have shown that these two neurotransmitter systems, and drugs that affect them, modulate the functional properties of the PFC in both humans and animal models.
Here I examine the hypothesis that serotonin (5-HT) plays a general role in activating the PFC, whereas norepinephrine (NE) plays a general role in deactivating this brain region. In this manner, the two neurotransmitter systems may have opposing effects on PFC-influenced behavior. To assess this hypothesis, three primary lines of evidence are examined comprising the effects of 5-HT and NE on impulsivity, cognitive flexibility, and working memory.
While all of the existing data do not unequivocally support the activation/deactivation hypothesis, there is a large body of support for it.

• 出版日期2011-2