Posted on 09/24/2024 7:14:59 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Researchers have found that SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants have the potential to improve certain cognitive functions, such as verbal memory. They measured brain function in patients before and after taking the SSRI, escitalopram, and correlated this to a drop in the level of one of the serotonin receptors in the brain and to cognitive improvements during treatment.
Serotonin is often described as a 'feel good' chemical, and higher levels of serotonin circulating in the brain contribute to a sense of well-being, and can ease clinical depression in most sufferers. There are several serotonin receptors in the brain, and all will serve to regulate well-being by regulating circulating serotonin's interaction with the brain. However, this work concentrated on only one serotonin receptor, the 5-HT4 receptor.
The researchers began by scanning the brains of 90 depressed patients, to measure the quantity of 5-HT4 receptor which serotonin binds to. At the same time, patients were given a series of tests to measure mood and cognitive abilities.
Patients were given daily doses of escitalopram, and at the end of an eight-week period, 40 patients were rescanned to measure the quantity of 5-HT4 receptor in the brain. The mood of the patients had improved, but the team also found that the levels of 5-HT4 receptor had dropped by around 9%, possibly due to adaptations to increased levels of serotonin.
When they asked these patients to undertake more cognitive tests, they found that their performance had improved, so that the less the 5HT4 receptor had changed the better the cognitive outcome. This phenomenon was particularly prominent for the ability to recall words.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Aka lexapro
As the client gains 75 pounds while suffering insomnia for an improved memory.
Gotcha!!
Weird that you used the word “client” instead of “patient.”
I’m convinced that every new health “study” is a bought and paid for advertisement for pharma. What in the world did we do before big pharma? We must’ve been a bunch of depressed, obese, HIV-ridden people with eczema and plaque psoriasis who couldn’t get out of bed because we were so tired all the time.
That’s OK, I’ll pass on anything new the pharma boys come up with. The covid scam was a great teacher.
Color me skeptical. This study included only 90 participants. Of those, only 40 of 90 were re-scanned after 8 weeks. This study was too small, and the time period was to short. I’m more interested in their results if using a much larger sampling of participants after 6 months and then a year after taking Escitalopram. This study was garbage.
Did you see anything about dosage?
I was going use “test subject” instead of client. I mean, “guinea pig” is a given.
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