Serotonin News and Research

Latest Serotonin News and Research

Ecstasy damages parts of the brain

Ecstasy, the illicit drug loved by party people and dance club patrons, may harm parts of the brain involved with verbal memory, according to new research.

5 Jun 2007

Low doses of Ecstasy associated with decreased verbal memory function

Even low doses of Ecstasy may be associated with a decline in language-related memory, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

5 Jun 2007

Neural basis for anxiety behaviour discovered

People who suffer from anxiety tend to interpret ambiguous situations, situations that could potentially be dangerous but not necessarily so, as threatening.

5 Jun 2007

Sertraline does not improve symptoms in some cancer patients without major depression

The established antidepressant sertraline does not improve symptoms, wellbeing or survival in patients with advanced cancer who do not have major depression.

5 Jun 2007

Interventions for pediatricians only partially successful

Continuing medical education, newsletters and resource guides were only partially successful in changing the way that pediatricians handled behavioral health problems, according to a follow-up study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

1 Jun 2007

Scientists study glutamate system in the brains of living people

A newly started research collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and AstraZeneca has already generated results.

30 May 2007

Interventions for Pediatricians only partially successful

30 May 2007

Depression is a risk factor for osteoporosis

Evidence is accumulating that depression is a risk factor for osteoporosis, reports the June 2007 issue of Harvard Women's Health Watch.

30 May 2007

Merits and risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy

The study was categorized as a primary prevention trial for coronary heart disease, although the fact that mean age at recruitment was 63 years was not given enough importance at that time. WHI investigators concluded that hormone therapy (HT) was not cardioprotective, and, in fact, its riskbenefit ratio did not favor the use of postmenopausal hormones for prevention of chronic diseases.

17 May 2007

Go green to avoid the blues!

Recently released figures have revealed that a growing number of people in the UK are receiving treatment for depression and prescriptions for antidepressant have reached an all-time high.

15 May 2007

Electroconvulsive therapy helps patients with severe depression who don't respond to other treatments

Electroconvulsive therapy has been shown to be a highly effective, safe, and even life-saving treatment for persistent and severe depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

8 May 2007

Teenagers who suffer migraines at risk of suicide

Researchers in Taiwan say teens who suffer from migraine headaches on a daily basis, are at greater risk for suicide than teens who don't have migraines.

2 May 2007

Migraine sufferers may have form of brain damage

Scientists in the U.S. are suggesting that people with migraines may also be suffering from some form of brain damage.

2 May 2007

Teens who have chronic daily headaches are at greater risk for suicide

Teens who have chronic daily headache, especially those with migraine headaches, are at greater risk for suicide than teens who don't have migraines, according to a study published in the May 1, 2007, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

1 May 2007

Mice on Prozac may help improve serotonin-based antidepressants

Depressed mice, like depressed humans, often appear listless and antisocial , the result of aberrant levels of brain chemicals such as serotonin.

26 Apr 2007

Similar brain chemicals influence aggression in fruit flies and humans

Serotonin is a major signaling chemical in the brain, and it has long been thought to be involved in aggressive behavior in a wide variety of animals as well as in humans.

24 Apr 2007

Benefits of antidepressants for children far outweigh the risks

Researchers in the United States maintain that a review of research shows that the benefits of antidepressants for children and teens during the first few months of treatment far outweigh the risk of suicide.

22 Apr 2007

Antidepressants safe for children and adolescents - black box warnings questioned

Antidepressants are safe and effective for treating anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and major depressive disorder in children and adolescents, according to a meta-analysis of 27 major studies.

18 Apr 2007

Less children and teens taking antidepressants

The number of children and teenagers prescribed antidepressant medications appears to have decreased following public warnings about suicidal behavior potentially associated with the drugs, according to a report published in the April issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Apr 2007

Playing in the dirt to counter depression

Treatment of mice with a "friendly" bacteria, normally found in the soil, altered their behavior in a way similar to that produced by antidepressant drugs, reports research published in the latest issue of Neuroscience.

2 Apr 2007