A study from the University of Cambridge has revealed why common antidepressants, specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), cause emotional “blunting” in about half of their users.
The research suggests these drugs affect reinforcement learning, an essential behavioral process allowing people to learn from their environment.
How SSRIs Work
SSRIs, a popular class of antidepressants, target serotonin, a brain chemical that carries messages between nerve cells and is often referred to as the “pleasure chemical.”
These drugs are frequently prescribed for persistent or severe depression cases.
However, a significant side effect of SSRIs is emotional “blunting,” where patients report feeling emotionally numb or unable to find pleasure in things they used to enjoy.
It’s estimated that 40% to 60% of patients taking SSRIs experience this side effect.
The Study and Its Findings
In this study, researchers tested healthy individuals with escitalopram, a well-tolerated SSRI, for several weeks to see the drug’s impact on participants’ cognitive performance.
A total of 66 volunteers took part in the experiment; 32 were given escitalopram, while 34 were given a placebo.
While there were no notable group differences in “cold” cognition (like attention and memory) or most “hot” cognition tests (cognitive functions involving emotions), the key finding was the reduced reinforcement sensitivity for the escitalopram group compared to the placebo group.
Reinforcement learning is how we use feedback from our actions and environment to learn.
The study found that those taking escitalopram were less likely to use positive and negative feedback to guide their learning of the task.
This suggests that the drug affected their sensitivity to rewards and their ability to respond accordingly.
Implications of the Study
The results of this study suggest that the emotional blunting experienced by SSRI users occurs because they become less sensitive to rewards, which are crucial for providing feedback.
This could explain why patients often report feeling emotionally numb or detached when using these medications.
The study, led by Professor Barbara Sahakian, was published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
It’s a significant step towards understanding how SSRIs work and why they can cause emotional blunting, which could potentially guide the development of more effective, less side-effect prone depression treatments in the future.
If you care about depression, please read studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and B vitamins could help prevent depression and anxiety.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that ultra-processed foods may make you feel depressed, and extra-virgin olive oil could reduce depression symptoms.
Follow us on Twitter for more articles about this topic.
Copyright © 2023 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
