Antidepressant medicines change brain architecture

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Antidepressant medicines change brain architecture

A single dose of drugs used to treat depression can alter brain’s structure only within hours, German researchers have uncovered.

The study conducted by the scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig found that the most popular class of antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) could impact brain can change connectivity.

Researchers used a magnetic resonance imaging machine to track brain connectivity in medication, according to the study report published the Cell Press journal Current Biology.

First they took data in free individuals whose minds wander for about 15 minutes in a brain scanner that measures the oxygenation of blood flow in the brain.

Next they gave the group a single dose of escitalopram, the SSRI antidepressant under the brand-name Lexapro, and then scanned the connections in the barin.

Comparing the brain connection 3-D maps indicated prominent changes in brain’s architecture caused by taking the drug.

“A single dose reduced connectivity in most parts of the brain, but increased connectivity within the cerebellum and thalamus — the parts of the brain associated with motor control and signal regulation only within hours.”

“We were not expecting the SSRI to have such a prominent effect on such a short timescale or for the resulting signal to encompass the entire brain,” said the co author of the study Julia Sacher.

“The findings could be a first step toward figuring out whether a relatively simple brain scan might one day help psychiatrists distinguish between those who respond to such drugs and those who don’t, an area of mystery and controversy in depression treatment,” researchers say.

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