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The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress

RATIONALE: Acute stress produces behavioral and physiological changes modulated by central catecholamines (CA). Stress increases CA activity, and depletion of CA stores reduces responses to stress. Increasing CA activity by administration of the dietary amino acid CA precursor tyrosine may increase...

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Autores principales: Lieberman, Harris R., Thompson, Lauren A., Caruso, Christina M., Niro, Philip J., Mahoney, Caroline R., McClung, James P., Caron, Gregory R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4325185/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25220844
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3727-7
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author Lieberman, Harris R.
Thompson, Lauren A.
Caruso, Christina M.
Niro, Philip J.
Mahoney, Caroline R.
McClung, James P.
Caron, Gregory R.
author_facet Lieberman, Harris R.
Thompson, Lauren A.
Caruso, Christina M.
Niro, Philip J.
Mahoney, Caroline R.
McClung, James P.
Caron, Gregory R.
author_sort Lieberman, Harris R.
collection PubMed
description RATIONALE: Acute stress produces behavioral and physiological changes modulated by central catecholamines (CA). Stress increases CA activity, and depletion of CA stores reduces responses to stress. Increasing CA activity by administration of the dietary amino acid CA precursor tyrosine may increase responsiveness to stress. This study determined whether tyrosine enhances the ability of humans to respond to severe stress. METHODS: Severe psychological stress was generated during training at Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) School. The acute stressor consisted of two mock interrogations conducted during several days of simulated captivity. Seventy-eight healthy male and female military personnel participated in this double-blind, between-subjects study, in which they received either tyrosine (300 mg/kg, N = 36) or placebo (N = 36). Tyrosine (or placebo) was administered in food bars in two doses of 150 mg/kg each approximately 60 min before each mock interrogation. Mood (Profile of Mood States), saliva cortisol, and heart rate (HR) were assessed prior to stress exposure during a week of academic training preceding mock captivity and immediately following the mock interrogations. RESULTS: The severe stress produced robust effects on mood (i.e., increased tension, depression, anger, fatigue, vigor, and confusion; p < .001), cortisol, and HR (p < .001). Tyrosine increased anger (p = .002, ANOVA treatment condition by test session interaction) during stress but had no other effects. CONCLUSION: Tyrosine did not alter most subjective or physiological responses to severe acute stress, but it increased ratings of anger. The modest increase in anger may be an adaptive emotional response in stressful environments.
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spelling pubmed-43251852015-02-18 The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress Lieberman, Harris R. Thompson, Lauren A. Caruso, Christina M. Niro, Philip J. Mahoney, Caroline R. McClung, James P. Caron, Gregory R. Psychopharmacology (Berl) Original Investigation RATIONALE: Acute stress produces behavioral and physiological changes modulated by central catecholamines (CA). Stress increases CA activity, and depletion of CA stores reduces responses to stress. Increasing CA activity by administration of the dietary amino acid CA precursor tyrosine may increase responsiveness to stress. This study determined whether tyrosine enhances the ability of humans to respond to severe stress. METHODS: Severe psychological stress was generated during training at Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) School. The acute stressor consisted of two mock interrogations conducted during several days of simulated captivity. Seventy-eight healthy male and female military personnel participated in this double-blind, between-subjects study, in which they received either tyrosine (300 mg/kg, N = 36) or placebo (N = 36). Tyrosine (or placebo) was administered in food bars in two doses of 150 mg/kg each approximately 60 min before each mock interrogation. Mood (Profile of Mood States), saliva cortisol, and heart rate (HR) were assessed prior to stress exposure during a week of academic training preceding mock captivity and immediately following the mock interrogations. RESULTS: The severe stress produced robust effects on mood (i.e., increased tension, depression, anger, fatigue, vigor, and confusion; p < .001), cortisol, and HR (p < .001). Tyrosine increased anger (p = .002, ANOVA treatment condition by test session interaction) during stress but had no other effects. CONCLUSION: Tyrosine did not alter most subjective or physiological responses to severe acute stress, but it increased ratings of anger. The modest increase in anger may be an adaptive emotional response in stressful environments. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2014-09-16 2015 /pmc/articles/PMC4325185/ /pubmed/25220844 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3727-7 Text en © The Author(s) 2014 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
spellingShingle Original Investigation
Lieberman, Harris R.
Thompson, Lauren A.
Caruso, Christina M.
Niro, Philip J.
Mahoney, Caroline R.
McClung, James P.
Caron, Gregory R.
The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress
title The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress
title_full The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress
title_fullStr The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress
title_full_unstemmed The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress
title_short The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress
title_sort catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to severe psychological stress
topic Original Investigation
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4325185/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25220844
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3727-7
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