![]() A computer-based analysis then enabled them to calculate the number of individual network connections between these voxels and, thus, measure the changes in network-connectivity throughout the entire brain. Compared to conventional tests using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this scan is taken without the study-participant performing any task in the scanner, thereby visualizing the brain’s functional networks at rest.įollowing the intake of escitalopram, the study participants let their minds wander, while the researchers carried out brain scans to reconstruct three-dimensional images of the individual brains and their networks. This scan records changes in blood-oxygenation as an indirect measure of the neural activity in different regions of the brain. The Leipzig-based researchers studied healthy study-participants who had never taken anti-depressants before, for 15 minutes in a brain scanner, three hours after the intake of a single dose of escitalopram. Many serotonergic neurons are located in the brainstem and project to subcortical and cortical regions (brain areas of higher cognitive function). Serotonin is a key neurotransmitter which regulates important brain functions such as sensory perception, cognitive control, emotion regulation, vegetative processes and motor activity. The current study suggests that the effect of the serotonin reuptake inhibitors on the brain’s resting-state networks begins just a few hours after initial intake of the drug. This rapid and brain-encompassing effect of escitalopram is unexpected, as the antidepressant effects of this class of drug usually require two to three weeks to unfold. fluctuate in synchrony, when the brain is in a resting state. Escitalopram influences which networks of the brain are activated simultaneously i.e. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig have discovered that the active ingredient escitalopram, which influences the availability of the neurotransmitter serotonin, causes major changes in connectivity between functional networks at rest – in other words, the synchronous brain activity in various areas of the resting brain. A single dose of one of the world’s most widely-prescribed drugs for the treatment of depression causes quantifiable changes in the entire brain in a matter of a few hours. ![]()
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