Effects of daily L-dopa administration on learning and brain structure in older adults undergoing cognitive training: a randomised clinical trial
Authors: Lebedev Alexander V. , Nilsson Jonna , Lindström Joanna , Fredborg William , Akenine Ulrika , Hillilä Carolina , Andersen Pia , Spulber Gabriela , de Lange Elizabeth CM , van den Berg Dirk-Jan , Kivipelto Miia , Lövdén Martin 
Published: December 2018

Cognitive aging creates major individual and societal burden, motivating search for treatment and preventive care strategies. Behavioural interventions can improve cognitive performance in older age, but effects are small. Basic research has implicated dopaminergic signaling in plasticity. We investigated whether transient enhancement of dopaminergic neurotransmission via administration of L-dopa improves effects of cognitive training on performance.

Sixty-three participants for this randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial were recruited via newspaper advertisements. Inclusion criteria were: age of 65-75 years, Mini-Mental State Examination score >25, absence of serious medical conditions. Eligible subjects were randomly allocated to either receive 100/25mg L-dopa/benserazide (n=32) or placebo (n=31) prior to each of twenty cognitive training sessions administered during a four-week period. Participants and staff were blinded to group assignment. Primary outcomes were latent variables of spatial and verbal fluid intelligence.

Compared to the placebo group, subjects receiving L-dopa improved less in spatial intelligence (−0.267 SDs; 95%CI [−0.498, −0.036]; p=0.024). Change in verbal intelligence did not significantly differ between the groups (−0.081 SDs, 95%CI [−0.242, 0.080]; p=0.323). Subjects receiving L-dopa also progressed slower through the training and the groups displayed differential volumetric changes in the midbrain. Adverse events occurred for 10 (31%) and 7 (23%) participants in the active and control groups, correspondingly. No statistically significant differences were found for the secondary cognitive outcomes.

The results speak against early pharmacological interventions in older healthy adults to improve broader cognitive functions by targeting the dopaminergic system and provide no support for learning-enhancing properties of L-dopa supplements. The findings warrant closer investigation about the cognitive effects of early dopamine-replacement therapy in neurological disorders. This trial was preregistered at the European Clinical Trial Registry, EudraCT#2016-000891-54.

Significance

The results put constraints on the hypothesis of a key role of the deteriorated dopaminergic system in age-related decline of learning abilities, and speak against early pharmacological interventions in older healthy adults to improve cognitive functions by targeting the dopaminergic system. Our findings also raise concerns about usefulness of novel L-dopa-containing supplements that claim to have neuroprotective and learning-enhancing properties, and present an urgent need to carefully investigate the cognitive outcomes of early pro-dopaminergic interventions in clinical populations often receiving substantially larger doses of L-dopa.