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A single dose of l-DOPA changes perceptual experiences and decreases latent inhibition in Parkinson’s disease

  • Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Original Article
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Abstract

Despite the well-known neuropsychiatric side effects of dopaminergic medications, the possible subjective psychotomimetic effects of a single dose of l-DOPA in newly diagnosed, drug-naïve patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are not known. To investigate this question, we used a visual search task for latent inhibition (LI), the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) scale, and visual analog scales for psychotomimetic effects (perception, relaxation, and dysphoria) in 28 de novo PD patients before (off) and after (on) the adminstration of l-DOPA and in 25 matched healthy control individuals. Results revealed increased LI in PD-off and decreased LI in PD-on relative to the control subjects. After the administration of l-DOPA, we observed a significant decline in LI in PD. l-DOPA also enhanced perceptual experiences (changes in subjective feelings in thinking, time perception, and mental “highness”). Greater reduction in LI was associated with enhanced perceptual experiences. These results suggest that a single dose of l-DOPA has a significant psychotomimetic effect, which is associated with decreased LI, a behavioral marker of psychosis-like experiences.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Hungarian Brain Research Program (KTIA NAP, ID: 13-2-2014-0020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurology Department, Nyírő Gyula Hospital-National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions, Budapest, Hungary

    Orsolya Györfi, Magdolna Bokor & Szabolcs Kéri

  2. National Institute for Medical Rehabilitation, Budapest, Hungary

    Helga Nagy

  3. Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Helga Nagy

  4. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

    Oguz Kelemen

  5. Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Egry str. 1, Budapest, 1111, Hungary

    Szabolcs Kéri

  6. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

    Szabolcs Kéri

Authors
  1. Orsolya Györfi
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  2. Helga Nagy
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  3. Magdolna Bokor
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  4. Oguz Kelemen
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  5. Szabolcs Kéri
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Correspondence to Szabolcs Kéri.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendment or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Györfi, O., Nagy, H., Bokor, M. et al. A single dose of l-DOPA changes perceptual experiences and decreases latent inhibition in Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm 124, 113–119 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-016-1630-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-016-1630-6

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