Effects of tryptophan depletion on Poggendorff illusion, corner Poggendorff illusion, and attention

Percept Mot Skills. 1991 Jun;72(3 Pt 1):895-8. doi: 10.2466/pms.1991.72.3.895.

Abstract

The effects of a tryptophan-free amino acid mixture on Poggendorff illusion, corner Poggendorff illusion, and attention were investigated with 12 male subjects who ingested either a balanced amino acid mixture or a tryptophan-free mixture, the latter known to cause a marked depletion of brain tryptophan and serotonin. No significant difference between the two mixtures on the perceptual illusions was found.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Discrimination Learning / physiology
  • Figural Aftereffect / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neural Inhibition / physiology
  • Optical Illusions / physiology*
  • Orientation / physiology*
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual / physiology*
  • Serotonin / physiology
  • Tryptophan / physiology*

Substances

  • Serotonin
  • Tryptophan