The belief that depression is due to low levels of serotonin in the brain – and that effective pharmaceutical treatments raise these levels – is nothing but a myth, according to David Healy, a Professor of Psychiatry at the Hergest psychiatric unit in the UK. Arguing his case in the British Medical Journal, Healy points […]
Antidepressants and other psychoactive medications in water affect the gene expression profiles of fish in a way that mimics the gene expression patterns associated with autism spectrum disorder, say researchers at Idaho State University. The findings are based on work with fathead minnows and appear in the journal PLoS ONE. Identifying environmental triggers for autism […]
Putting a twist in a run-of-the-mill medication-versus-placebo trial has revealed that prior treatment with antidepressants appears to prime the brain to exhibit a much stronger response to a placebo. The new study, by UCLA researchers, suggests that how the brain responds to antidepressant medication may be influenced by its remembering of past antidepressant exposure. Aimee […]
Rodents exposed to a common serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant just before and after birth exhibited brain abnormalities and behaviors – such as novelty avoidance and social impairment – commonly associated with autism. The research suggests that taking antidepressants during pregnancy might be one factor contributing to the dramatic rise in autism spectrum disorders in […]
The slow-working, broad-brush action of current antidepressants may become a thing of the past thanks to new research that has identified the specific serotonin receptor that is linked to anti-depressive and anti-anxiety behavior. Reporting their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Michigan scientists explain how a key receptor in […]
A Canadian study has linked the diagnosis of cataracts with the class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), as well as between cataracts and specific drugs within that class. The researchers, from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and McGill University, based their study on more than 200,000 […]
