Depression / SSRI Mechanics

[Ian Goddard]

Hi Dag!

On 30 Nov 2001 10:44:35 GMT, dag.stenberg at nospam.helsinki.fi wrote:

>Ian Goddard <igoddard at erols.mom> wrote:
>>
>>   SSRIs suppress activity in the frontal cortex.
>> 
>
>It was the other way round, wasn't it?
>SSRIs desensitized the inhibitory autoreceptors, ehnancing 5HT release
>in the frontal cortex:


  IAN: Good point. However, I think this is not contrary 
  to the thesis since it is said that 5-HT can act as a
  suppressor of other neurological activities. In which 
  case your point refines how the thesis is presented.

  Supporting an SSRI-induced decrease in frontal-lobe activity
  is research by Dr Leuchter, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute:
  
   "By placing electrodes on the scalp, Dr. Leuchter and
   colleagues found that people who improved on Prozac
   showed a decrease in activity in the front of the brain."
   http://www.dallasnews.com/national/0521nat12depress.htm

  Those findings were released at a conferences, not sure 
  if they've been published yet. Will look into the matter.
  Assuming the findings true, they suggest the concurrent 
  enhanced release of 5-HT decreases overall activity.
  That research also found that those who got better on 
  placebo showed increased frontal-lobe activity, which 
  would tend to complicate the thesis. However, I suspect 
  based on that and/or similar research that the effect 
  of SSRIs would be attributed at least in theory to 
  being a product of reducing frontal-lobe hyperactivity.

  http://IanGoddard.net