Studies looking at depression in humans and models of depression in animals show that depression involves changes in a part of the brain called the striatum. The striatum controls how we process rewards and attribute value to our experiences, while also regulating our goal-directed and habitual actions. Read more →
Depression—the most common cause of disability in the world— places serious demands on health services and is a major contributor to suicide. Yet our ability to develop new, more effective treatments continues to hit obstacles largely due to a lack of understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of the causes. One exciting opportunity arises from recently acquired knowledge about the function of astrocytes—a cell type Read more →
UCLA researchers score a $8.3 million grant from the National Science Foundations because they have made it possible to literally see inside an animal’s brain with the invention of a tiny microscope. This project has been established through a collaboration among professors Peyman Golshani, Tad Blair, Jason Cong and Alcino Silva, Sotiris Masmanidis and Daniel Aharoni, all of UCLA; and Alipasha Vaziri, a professor at Read more →
About 20% of women develop depression at some point in life. Depression can occur at any age, but it is most common in women between the ages of 40 and 59. Although women are twice as likely as men to experience depression, studies involving animals usually ignore this important aspect of the disease. The term “reproductive depression” denotes the depression in women that relates to the hormonal changes of Read more →
One of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants is Fluoxetine (commonly known as Prozac), which targets transporters of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. However, our knowledge of this drug stops here, which leaves us unable to improve existing drugs or create new ones. Past research suggests that antidepressant medications alter the cellular and molecular machinery responsible for Read more →