Serotonin and Everyday Social Interaction

Overview

Rationale: Poor social functioning may contribute to major depressive disorder (MDD). Poor serotonin function may also contribute to MDD. Recent research suggests that serotonin plays a role in regulating human social behaviour. Therefore it would be intriguing to investigate the role of serotonin in regulating the quality of everyday social interactions in a population at risk for MDD. Human social behaviour can be reliably assessed in everyday life using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Objective: This study aims to investigate how an experimental increase in serotonin influences social functioning in healthy adults with a first-degree family member diagnosed with MDD. The primary goal is to investigate the role of serotonin in regulating everyday social behaviour, measured using EMA. This will be done using oral supplementation with tryptophan, the amino acid precursor of serotonin. Secondary goals are to determine how this experimental manipulation influences people's feelings as well as their perceptions of other's social behaviour following interpersonal events, and social cognitions at the end of the day. An exploratory goal is to investigate if these effects are moderated by genes thought to be involved in MDD. The primary hypothesis to be tested is that tryptophan will reduce quarrelsome behaviour.

Conditions