Understanding the lithium mechanism of action may allow us to predict which bipolar patients will respond to the medication (and which will not) and may shape our understanding of the causes of bipolar disorder itself. Research at the University of California, San Diego could lead to just these kind of breakthroughs in the next few years. In the first of …
Anhedonia and Ketamine
Anhedonia, meaning the loss of the normal experience of pleasure in life, can be one of the most troubling symptoms of depression. And also one for which we have relatively few treatments. We know that a small group of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmentum (limbic system) which project to the prefrontal cortex, among other locations in the brain, are …
Bipolar Depression Neurobiology – 2014 ISBD Update
Bipolar depression neurobiology is an area that urgently needs more research. The treatment of a depression that follows an energized (hypomanic or manic) state remains one of the most difficult areas in psychiatry. Mark Frye, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic, gave a presentation on this topic at the 2014 International Society of Biological Society conference that was …
TMS Mechanism of Action – Changes in Brain Connectivity?
TMS’s mechanism of action has been unclear. Transcranial magnetic stimulation affects activity locally in the region of the brain that is stimulated, but does that explain how it works? Since it affects local activity in every patient, why does it not work for everyone? A new article in Biological Psychiatry suggests that it may be changes in brain connectivity that …