Jon Lansner defends his PhD thesis
Title
'The Aim of Your Attention. Investigating the Influence of Monoamine Reuptake Inhibition on Visual Attention – Cognitive, Pharmacological, and Methodological Perspectives'.
Time and place
28th February 2022 at 1 pm.
The defence will take place at CSS, room 2.0.24, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 København K.
The defence will also be available on Zoom. Click here to participate. Passcode: 009091.
Assessment committee
- Professor Søren Kyllingsbæk, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (chair)
- Professor Kathrin Finke, Hans-Berger-Klinik für Neurologie Am Klinikum, Germany
- Professor Trevor Robbins, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Supervisor
- Associate Professor Signe Vangkilde, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Abstract
The current most frequently prescribed psychopharmacological interventions for treating cognitive deficits, predominantly utilize monoamine reuptake-inhibition. Accordingly, the incremental improvement of our understanding of how these types of treatments best realize their capacity for regulating attentional, arousal and motivational processes, has significant potential to impact society, given the importance of cognitive processes to both the clinical outcome and quality of life of patients. Furthermore, psychopharmacological treatment provides a versatile tool for studying basic elements of visual attention, given the pharmacological specificity of modern treatments. Thus, the purpose of this PhD project is to investigate the effect of reuptake inhibition of three classical monoamines serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline on visual attentional processes, in healthy human subjects. This is pursued in three original investigations, examining the effects of five different pharmacological treatments, Fluoxetine, Methylphenidate, Atomoxetine, Amphetamine and Modafinil, on motivational-, arousal-, and attentional-processes.
