Single Dose Of Antidepressant Makes Brain Faster Than Thoughts

Antidepressant drugs change brain after just one dose a new study suggests. The brain’s architecture can be changed in just hours. Users don’t normally report improvements until weeks or months later. With over one in ten adults using these psychiatric drugs such as Prozac, Lexapro, Celexa, Paxil, and Zoloft, they’re classified as adjusting the chemical transmitters of brains and srotonin, by stopping reabsorption. They’re called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs.

Of importance here is that these latest findings might be step one, so to speak toward solving how a standard brain scan may in the future enable psychiatrists to tell the difference responders to the drug and those that don’t. This is at present problematic to the psychiatric industry. It was the scientists from the Max Planck Institute located in Leipzig, Germany that utilized a magnetic resonance imaging machine comparing the gray matter connections of the brain of those who were using SSRIs and subjects that didn’t. Of particular not to the scientists was what went on during brain inactivity or just doing nothing.

Neuroscientist Dr. Julia Sacher who is a co-author of the study said, “We just tel them to let their minds wander and not think of anything particularly dramatic or upsetting.”. The study was published online on Thursday in the journal Current Biology. In order to do some of the research the team created 3D maps of the connections that are associated with the brain and its interdependence excluding connectivity. Discoveries in the 1990s found low frequency brain signals when inactivity like such as daydreaming showed indications of what is called functional connectivity. It was found that additional serotonin was provided the resting state functional connectivity slowed down. Although not surprising the finding matching other findings that showed similar effects in regions of the brain where mood regulation is theorized.

Not all was done though as something more surprising occurred, when certain brain areas showed to not follow this discover and became more inter dependent and these changes occurred within just 3 hours after dosage. Dr. Sacher illuminated on this by saying, “It was interesting to see two patterns that seemed to go in the opposite direction,” and added, “What was really surprising was that the entire brain would light up after only three hours. We didn’t expect that.”.