Posted by stjames on September 3, 2003, at 20:48:10
In reply to Neurogenesis - highlights/review, posted by jrbecker on September 3, 2003, at 11:15:21
Here we have a good theory for why it takes 1 month
for an antidepressant to start working:Many currently available drugs for treating depression, such as Prozac, augment neurogenesis in experimental animals. Interestingly, most of these drugs take up to one month to elevate mood—the same time required for neurogenesis. This finding has led to the hypothesis that depression is in part caused by a decrease in neurogenesis in the hippocampus. Recent clinical imaging studies have confirmed that the hippocampus is shrunken in chronically depressed patients. But long-term administration of antidepressants appears to spur neurogenesis: rodents that were administered such drugs for months had new neurons sprouting in their hippocampus.
poster:stjames
thread:256627
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030902/msgs/256750.html