Antidepressants May Boost Brain Growth

Newer kinds of antidepressants are supposed to work by affecting brain chemistry. They are designed to put more chemical messengers -- such as serotonin -- in the gaps across which brain cells communicate. This is supposed to improve brain function.

There's a problem with this theory, note Johns Hopkins researcher Vassilis E. Koliatsos, MD, and colleagues. SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants affect brain chemistry in a matter of days. Yet every psychiatrist knows that the drugs usually take two to four weeks to start working.

Moreover, SSRI antidepressants increase serotonin levels -- yet antidepressants that decrease serotonin levels seem to work just as well. Maybe, Koliatsos and colleagues thought, drugs that directly affect serotonin make those brain cells grow.

Serotonin works as a chemical messenger by plugging into special sockets at the tip of brain cells. These serotonin receptors trigger a cascade of events. One of these events, the researchers suggest, is brain regeneration. In other words, drugs aimed at serotonin receptors make brain cells sprout.

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