Publications (2)9.33 Total impact
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Article: Pregabalin effects on neural response to emotional faces.
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ABSTRACT: Pregabalin has shown promise in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies indicate agents used to treat anxiety, e.g., SSRIs and benzodiazepines, attenuate amygdala, insula, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activation during emotional processing. Our prior study has shown that during anticipation of an emotional stimulus, pregabalin attenuates amygdala and insula activation but increases medial PFC activation. In this study, we examined whether, similar to SSRIs and benzodiazepines, pregabalin attenuates amygdala, insula, and medial PFC during emotional face processing. Sixteen healthy volunteers underwent a double-blind within-subjects fMRI study investigating effects of placebo, 50 mg, and 200 mg pregabalin on neural activation during an emotional face-matching task. Linear mixed model analysis revealed that pregabalin dose-dependently attenuated left amygdala activation during fearful face-matching and left anterior insula activation during angry face-matching. The 50 mg dose exhibited more robust effects than the 200 mg dose in the right anterior insula and ventral ACC. Thus, pregabalin shares some similarity to SSRIs and benzodiazepines in attenuating anger and fear-related insula and amygdala activation during emotional face processing. However, there is evidence that a subclinical 50 mg dose of pregabalin produced more robust and widespread effects on neural responses in this paradigm than the more clinically relevant 200 mg dose. Taken together, pregabalin has a slightly different effect on brain activation as it relates to anticipation and emotional face processing, which may account for its unique characteristic as an agent for the treatment of anxiety disorders.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 01/2012; 6:42. · 2.34 Impact Factor -
Article: Pregabalin influences insula and amygdala activation during anticipation of emotional images.
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ABSTRACT: Pregabalin (PGB) has shown potential as an anxiolytic for treatment of generalized and social anxiety disorder. PGB binds to voltage-dependent calcium channels, leading to upregulation of GABA inhibitory activity and reduction in the release of various neurotransmitters. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies indicate that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines attenuate amygdala, insula, and medial prefrontal cortex activation during anticipation and emotional processing in healthy controls. The aim of this study was to examine whether acute PGB administration would attenuate activation in these regions during emotional anticipation. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover study, 16 healthy controls completed a paradigm involving anticipation of negative and positive affective images during fMRI approximately 1 h after administration of placebo, 50, or 200 mg PGB. Linear mixed model analysis revealed that PGB was associated with (1) decreases in left amygdala and anterior insula activation and (2) increases in anterior cingulate (ACC) activation, during anticipation of positive and negative stimuli. There was also a region of the anterior amygdala in which PGB dose was associated with increased activation during anticipation of negative and decreased activation during anticipation of positive stimuli. Attenuation of amygdala and insula activation during anticipatory or emotional processing may represent a common regional brain mechanism for anxiolytics across drug classes. PGB induced increases in ACC activation could be a unique effect related to top-down modulation of affective processing. These results provide further support for the viability of using pharmaco-fMRI to determine the anxiolytic potential of pharmacologic agents.Neuropsychopharmacology: official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 03/2011; 36(7):1466-77. · 6.99 Impact Factor
