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Short-term antidepressant treatment and facial processing

Functional magnetic resonance imaging study

University of Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford

PHILIP J. COWEN, MD, FRCPsych, GUY M. GOODWIN, DPhil, FRCPsych, FMedSci and CATHERINE J. HARMER, DPhil

University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK

Correspondence: Correspondence: Dr Ray Norbury, University of Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, MRS Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. Email: raymond.norbury{at}psych.oxford.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None.

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the effects of short-term treatment with reboxetine, a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, on emotional facial processing in healthy volunteers. Reboxetine was associated with a reduced amygdala response to fearful faces and increased activation to happy v. neutral facial expressions in the right fusiform gyrus, relative to placebo treatment and in the absence of changes in mood. Our results show that reboxetine modulates the neural substrates of emotional processing, highlighting a mechanism by which drug treatment could normalise negative bias in depression and anxiety.

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