Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New MRI Studies Show SSRIs Bring Rapid Changes to Brain Function

Posted by timothy on from the depressing-thought-or-perhaps-not dept.

A story at the Los Angeles Times reports that researchers at the Max Planck Institute have found that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, various of which are widely used in anti-depressant medications, cause changes in healthy subjects' brain architecture just hours after ingestion. As the article mentions, one reason that this rapid change is surprising is that patients taking SSRIs to treat depression typically take considerably longer (weeks) to perceive a change in mood. A slice from the story: When more serotonin was available, this resting state functional connectivity decreased on a broad scale, the study found. This finding was not particularly surprising -- other studies have shown a similar effect in brain regions strongly associated with mood regulation. But there was a two-fold shock: Some areas of the brain appeared to buck the trend and become more interdependent. And all the changes were evident only three hours after the single dosage. ... The rapid connectivity shifts noted by the study might therefore be precursors to longer-term changes, perhaps starting with remodeling of synapses, the microscopic gaps where chemical neurotransmitters such as serotonin flood across to an adjacent brain cell, the study suggests. But this type of brain scanning can’t pick up changes at such a scale, so the hypothesis will have to be tested other ways[.] ... Study subjects did not have diagnoses of depression, so researchers will need to generate similar maps among those diagnosed with depression, and re-map them during and after depressive episodes, as well as after treatment, Sacher said. Comparisons might then show whether a certain initial architecture predicts treatment success.

10 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. mostly clarity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I found that the SSRI that I took for a total of about 18 months (for diagnosed depression) was mostly helpful in allowing me some clarity to so that I could identify, build and grow the coping mechanisms that helped me maintain clarity without the SSRI. I've been free of needing the drug now for about 8 years and have found ways to cope on my own (changing my mind among others as Tim Leary used to say)...

    1. Re:mostly clarity by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That's how it is supposed to work. It's a crutch to allow something like cognitive behavioral therapy to take hold.

      Ideally, you would be seeing a psychologist to assist with identifying coping strategies, or problems with the way you filter input. Instead of triggering negative responses, everything you experience in a day should be more or less balanced. Not perfectly 50/50, but certainly not always negative.

      Getting in a negative rut ("depression") makes it easier for a neutral stimulus to trigger a negative emotion, or something that should be positive to be misinterpreted.

      An anti-depressant can't change the way you react to what you hear, read, or see. But it can give you enough of a lift that you have room to work on yourself.

      As long as I'm typing - someone will probably mention cocaine. Similar caveat with cocaine - it doesn't help you change your mind. It actually gives you a positive feeling, which current anti-depressants don't really do. The need to change your mind goes away, temporarily, and users look to another hit to solve the problem. It's a great demonstration of how feeling good might feel, but serves no other useful purpose.

    2. Re:mostly clarity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      that you had a unrealistically pessimistic view of the world and the SSRI caused you to have a less pessimistic view of the world

      You seem to assume that "depressed" means "unhappy" or "pessimistic". I've had depression for almost a decade while being happy and successful and an overall optimistic person who looked forward to his work day and time with friends and family.

      I had a lack of energy and motivation, but I enjoyed being with people and doing stuff, but I relied on others to motivate me and I always wanted to sleep and do nothing. I also had anxiety, not a "fear" of anything, just my mind would race when I felt stress. I tried an SSRI, but I almost immediately got an adrenaline rush off of it with only a half dose that left me with almost no sense of pain, exaggerated movements, huge amounts of energy, and a 140 pulse that wouldn't let up for almost an hour. I eventually had to immediately see a doctor who gave me something else to counteract it. I had a few bruises and sore joints and tendons after that.

      Eventually my doctor got me on Lorazepam for when I felt strong anxiety. After several months of using Lorazepam whenever I had my attacks, I noticed I got anxiety less and less. I have not had an anxiety attack in 6 months now and I now feel more energetic and I want to go out and do things, starting to exercise again, even taking up learning a new language. I'm also finding that I can think clearer and remember stuff distinctly easier. I'm just glad I haven't had to use Lorazepam in a long while.

      I find it interesting that my ability to concentrate and remember is better than ever. I grew up with A.D.D. from kindergarten on, which continued to cause me issues up until very recently. A lot of my A.D.D. issues have subsided after my anxiety went away. No idea.I only used Lorazepam for a little bit, but it seems to have been a miracle worker in my case.

  2. Interesting by DaMattster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The study is interesting however, it is notable that no one studied had a diagnosis of depression. It so happens that I am autistic and have Autistic Spectrum Disorder and suffer from Major Depressive Disorder. Being autistic, I have certain stimuli that I am very sensitive to and others not so much. I noticed almost an immediate difference when I started to take Prozac. I've always been sensitive to medicines and I noticed some initial feelings along the lines of things seemed clearer somehow.

    1. Re:Interesting by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's a very good point. We know what happens to the chemicals in the brain, and we know that after some time people feel a bit better, and we know that is rarely permanent.

      There was a great article in Newsweek or Time (I can't find it now...) that pointed out this delay. The chemicals happen immediately, but it is weeks before any effects are seen.

      One idea was that the brain is damaged, and has to be repaired. It didn't make sense, but there are studies that report decreased brain tissue, or ridges, or various measures of physical properties.

      I don't remember seeing any follow-up that showed reversal of brain tissue decline, which might prove this idea.

      Anyway, I suspect that your sensitivity to stimuli would have made you aware of the chemical differences faster than most people. And it could be possible that the ASD makes you more susceptible to depression - *without* the physical atrophy that may or may not underpin most non-ASD depression. You did not have to endure the brain rebuilding that most people might.

      All of this post basically points out that we don't know how the brain works, and if you have multiple differences from the norm maybe we super don't know how it works. If chemicals made you feel better, good. I don't think anyone can really explain why.

    2. Re:Interesting by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Although people are generally told that SSRIs take several weeks to work, many patients report that some effects are noticeable in the first few days. These are usually improvement in anxiety symptoms (depression and anxiety commonly coexist).

      So this doesn't surprise me all that much. What will be interesting is to follow 'normal' and depressed people over time with and without treatment. However, given how annoying MRIs can be (confining and noisy and slow) I wonder if there will some sort of bias created with some people opting out of frequent testing.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:Interesting by slaker · · Score: 4, Interesting

      My experiences with Zoloft and Paxil suggest that side-effects, most especially related to my physical appetite and sleep schedule, occur within 12 hours of starting medication or a change in dosage. I can't say I ever experienced any positive impact from either medication in the couple of years I spent at various dosages, but do know that all three of the physicians I was seeing swore up and down that SSRIs don't work like that.

      I likewise found that a mental fog settled over me within a few days of starting each SSRI that I try. I felt more like I was controlling a video game character than experiencing any part of my own life, to the point that I would at times find myself sitting in the passenger seat of my own car, wondering why it wasn't moving.

      I eventually decided that the pharmacological aspect to my treatment for depression was doing far more harm than good. I have to say that I have a strong distrust for purported utility of SSRIs, and a vastly lower opinion of mental health providers in general as a result of my experiences.

      --
      -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
  3. Prementrual Dysphoria by godel_56 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    SSRIs are also the preferred treatment for PMDD and in small doses, about 5% of the usual dose for depression.

    In this application it also works almost immediately, no waiting 6 weeks for something to happen. The original article I saw speculated that it affects the amount of GABA in the brain.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premenstrual_dysphoria

  4. And Now For An Opposing Viewpoint... by slas6654 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    http://www.ssristories.org/

  5. An SSRI turned me into a sadomasochist for a decad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A long time ago, I took an SSRI called Luvox in order to treat OCD. Within a month, the drug had turned pain signals into pleasure. Headaches, burning myself via a hot water faucet--I would literally feel pleasure from these normally painful experiences. I stopped right away, and those effects lingered for a decade. Prior to that, I had taken Prozac and Zoloft without significant effects that I remember. But after seeing an SSRI make my particular brain sadomasochistic, I never popped another SSRI pill and I never will again. They really do change the brain, and I'm convinced that the outliers (read: really smart people with non-normal brain chemistry perhaps--at that time, I was pretty damn smart :)) have brain chemistries that react in vastly different ways than the baseline. I know this isn't exactly on topic, but it was shocking how much my brain changed from what should have been just the early trial period of the drug and for how long that lasted, and frankly how much it pushed me into brand-new areas of being f'ing crazy. I would heartily recommend against using these things, especially to the types of people that are going to read 0-level comments on slashdot. :) I'm also convinced that even if it seems kinda normal, it could very well not be and be royally messing up other parts of your consciousness that just aren't as apparent as suddenly pain=pleasure. And I highly suspect this kind of thing is happening when kids who see psychiatrists and are on drugs, smart loners, go f'ing nuts and kill people. Random rewiring of the brain because they have unique chemistries. That's just my theory though, just knowing how "crazy" I got. I figure it more or less follows from giving these things to so many people and knowing how drastically wrong they can go. And sadomasochism may not be the right term as it didn't involve sexual feelings or anybody else. It's just like my wires got crossed and stayed that way, tapering off, for a decade.