Mood and Behavioral Effects of Physostigmine on Humans Are Accompanied by Elevations in Plasma β-Endorphin and Cortisol
- 26 September 1980
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 209 (4464), 1545-1546
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7433977
Abstract
Administration of physostigmine to normal volunteers produced significant elevations in plasma cortisol and beta-endorphin immunoreactivity as well as alterations in mood, cognition, and behavior. These observations might be explained by a cholinergically mediated stress syndrome. However, peak elevations in plasma beta-endorphin immunoreactivity (but not in plasma cortisol) were significantly correlated with physostigmine-induced increases in depression ratings. These results suggest that a cholinergically mediated beta-endorphin pathway may be involved in the observed affective changes.This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
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