TY - JOUR AU - Wichers, Robert H. AU - Findon, James L. AU - Jelsma, Auke AU - Giampietro, Vincent AU - Stoencheva, Vladimira AU - Robertson, Dene M. AU - Murphy, Clodagh M. AU - Blainey, Sarah AU - McAlonan, Grainne AU - Ecker, Christine AU - Rubia, Katya AU - Murphy, Declan G. M. AU - Daly, Eileen M. PY - 2021 DA - 2021/02/19 TI - Modulation of atypical brain activation during executive functioning in autism: a pharmacological MRI study of tianeptine JO - Molecular Autism SP - 14 VL - 12 IS - 1 AB - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with deficits in executive functioning (EF), and these have been suggested to contribute to core as well as co-occurring psychiatric symptoms. The biological basis of these deficits is unknown but may include the serotonergic system, which is involved both in regulating EF in neurotypical populations and in the pathophysiology of ASD. We previously demonstrated that reducing serotonin by acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) shifts differences in brain function during performance of EF tasks towards control levels. However, ATD cannot be easily used in the clinic, and we therefore need to adopt alternative approaches to challenge the serotonin system. Hence, we investigated the role of the serotonergic modulator tianeptine on EF networks in ASD. SN - 2040-2392 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-021-00422-0 DO - 10.1186/s13229-021-00422-0 ID - Wichers2021 ER -