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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday December 17 2015, @05:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the can-he-fix-stupid-too? dept.

Su-Chun Zhang, a pioneer in developing neurons from stem cells at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has created a specialized nerve cell that makes serotonin, a signaling chemical with a broad role in the brain.

Serotonin affects emotions, sleep, anxiety, depression, appetite, pulse and breathing. It also plays a role in serious psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.

"Serotonin essentially modulates every aspect of brain function, including movement," Zhang says. The transmitter is made by a small number of neurons localized on one structure at the back of the brain. Serotonin exerts its influence because the neurons that make it project to almost every part of the brain.

Generation of serotonin neurons from human pluripotent stem cells [abstract]


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17 2015, @04:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17 2015, @04:09PM (#277730)

    First-generation antidepressants were anti-serotonin drugs. Second-generation "antidepressants" are pro-serotonin drugs, that sometimes have the side effects of making depressed patients suicidal. Now that the patents on the SSRIs have expired, hopefully medicine will abandon the silly idea of depression as a serotonin-deficiency problem.

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday December 18 2015, @04:56PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Friday December 18 2015, @04:56PM (#278258) Homepage Journal

    To license a drug, one has to demonstrate that it is more effective than placebo, and that less harm occurs when taking the drug than when not taking it.

    Consider the horrible side effects of chemotherapy agents, I don't want to ever have to undergo chemotherapy. But for some cancers, the chances are quite good that the chemotherapy will save your life.

    The depakote I used to take is highly toxic to livers, especially the developing livers in children and fetuses, so I was required to take regular blood tests to measure my liver function. Even so I took it as the alternative was that my bipolar-type schizoaffective disorder could lead me to do something that could get me killed.

    That they were wrong about how the antidepressants work doesn't mean that antidepressants are ineffective. However, having an accurate theory of their function would enable us to develop new drugs that are more effective or that have less-severe side effects.

    There is now a genetic test that will determine which of the antidepressants are effective for a specific individual. Something to do with the particular chemistry of one's liver. In my experience some work well, some make me floridly psychotic, some make me horribly anxious, some don't work at all.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]