On the Mechanism of Action of an Anti-depressant

The Role of Fluoxetine (Prozac®) in Modulating Synapses in the Prefrontal-Limbic Network
  • Maxwell Bennett
Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

Mood disorders such as depression are accompanied by changes in the structure and function of the prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and amygdala (Drevets et al. 2008). In particular, specific connections between these areas are lost (Mayberg 2003) and animal studies suggest that this probably occurs as a consequence of the disappearance of spines on neuronal dendrites leading to the regression of synapses (Bennett 2008). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are known to at least partly reverse this loss of synapses but no consistent account of how this might occur has been given (Norrholm and Ouimet 2001). N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activation is a principal means of ensuring the integrity of synaptic spines (Bennett 2009). The present work considers a means by which changes in SSRIs modulate NMDA receptors and so determine the formation and regression of synaptic spines and hence the viability of synaptic connections between cortical regions and the amygdala that accompany depression.

Keywords

Anterior Cingulate Cortex Synaptic Connection Orbitofrontal Cortex Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  • Maxwell Bennett
    • 1
  1. 1.Brain and Mind Research InstituteCamperdownAustralia

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