Azure Jane Lunatic (Azz) 🌺 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
azurelunatic) wrote2014-05-21 11:39 am
azurelunatic) wrote2014-05-21 11:39 am
Tumblr post (this is likely a reblog, and may have more pictures over there)
Posted in full at: http://ift.tt/1noJHH0 at May 21, 2014 at 04:30AM
Scientists find new mechanism underlying depressionScientists find new mechanism underlying depression:
andrewhickeywriter:
Researchers have shown that changes in a type of brain cells called microglia underlie the depressive symptoms brought on by exposure to chronic stress. In animal experiments, the researchers were able to demonstrate that microglia-stimulating drugs served as effective and fast-acting antidepressants, producing complete recovery of the depressive-like behavioral symptoms and increasing neurogenesis to normal levels within days. This suggests new avenues for drug research, using microglia stimulators as antidepressants.
Interesting for several reasons. Firstly because it links depression with the immune system, which makes sense from an intuitive point of view — all the other stress-related illnesses I’m aware of (because I’ve got most of them) boil down to inflammation caused by autoimmune reactions, so it’s unsurprising that the depression caused by stress would have a similar cause.
Secondly, it explains why a lot of people with situational depression report little or no improvement from SSRIs — if the serotonergic system isn’t what’s going wrong, then it’s unlikely that messing with that system will fix it.
And thirdly, it’s yet more evidence of something that should be obvious — that the glial cells have a role in cognition. This is something that has become blatantly obvious to anyone who’s been following neuroscience (even as a semi-interested layperson like myself) for years, but is still denied by a huge number of the glibertarian singulatarian fringe who are convinced that they’ll be able to “upload” themselves Real Soon Now.
(NB I’m actually very keen on the idea of uploading as an idea. The combination of immortality with not having to deal with a horribly faulty, physically unattractive body that won’t do what I tell it seems a good one. The problem is that none of the people who talk about it as something that’s actually likely to happen have presented a single shred of evidence that it’s going to happen any time in the next century.)
Scientists find new mechanism underlying depressionScientists find new mechanism underlying depression:
andrewhickeywriter:
Researchers have shown that changes in a type of brain cells called microglia underlie the depressive symptoms brought on by exposure to chronic stress. In animal experiments, the researchers were able to demonstrate that microglia-stimulating drugs served as effective and fast-acting antidepressants, producing complete recovery of the depressive-like behavioral symptoms and increasing neurogenesis to normal levels within days. This suggests new avenues for drug research, using microglia stimulators as antidepressants.
Interesting for several reasons. Firstly because it links depression with the immune system, which makes sense from an intuitive point of view — all the other stress-related illnesses I’m aware of (because I’ve got most of them) boil down to inflammation caused by autoimmune reactions, so it’s unsurprising that the depression caused by stress would have a similar cause.
Secondly, it explains why a lot of people with situational depression report little or no improvement from SSRIs — if the serotonergic system isn’t what’s going wrong, then it’s unlikely that messing with that system will fix it.
And thirdly, it’s yet more evidence of something that should be obvious — that the glial cells have a role in cognition. This is something that has become blatantly obvious to anyone who’s been following neuroscience (even as a semi-interested layperson like myself) for years, but is still denied by a huge number of the glibertarian singulatarian fringe who are convinced that they’ll be able to “upload” themselves Real Soon Now.
(NB I’m actually very keen on the idea of uploading as an idea. The combination of immortality with not having to deal with a horribly faulty, physically unattractive body that won’t do what I tell it seems a good one. The problem is that none of the people who talk about it as something that’s actually likely to happen have presented a single shred of evidence that it’s going to happen any time in the next century.)