Posted by jrbecker on August 1, 2003, at 17:32:24
In reply to Re: just more evidence...ADs protect the brain, posted by SLS on August 1, 2003, at 12:27:01
> Hi JRB.
>
> Do you personally feel that hippocampal volume can be regenerated once remission is achieved?
>
> I hope so. Mine must be the size of a pea.
>
>
> - Scottthat's a good question, Scott, and I don't think the research has answered that yet. There are so many classes of drugs that are neuroprotective, including mood stabilizers and ADs, which are not only neuroprotective, but also promotes regeneration. Dr. Manji of UCLA/NIMH has done a great job summmarizing this research, perhaps you can explore more on this from his studies.
Can total replacement of reduced volume be achieved from ADs and mood stabilizers? From what I've read, not likely. Or is it also a factor that we have smaller hippocampi to begin with? Anyways, Manji and others have offered a plethora of other chemical mechanisms to research that would expand on the neuroprotection seen in ADs and mood stabilizers. Coincidentally, this was somewhat the topic of an above thread. Start at the beginning of the thread to read the NYTimes article that spurs the discussion. Then read some of the links provided in one of my follow-up threads.
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/246746.html
Only thing I would add is that although hippocampal dysfunction is definitely apparent, it's not the whole picture in terms of the etiology, since a lot of the research points to cortical areas of dysfunction as well. But as you'll read, the research is very much underway to get further "upstream" in the etiology of depression to see where the real problems are beginning (they obviously don't end just with the neurotransmitters).
poster:jrbecker
thread:247363
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/247444.html