Depression Stanford

A. Solomon, The Noonday Demon An Atlas of Depression (New York Scribner s, 2001) S. Nolen-Hoeksema, Sex Differences in Depression (Stanford, Calif Stanford University Press, 1990) D. Jack, Silencing the Self Women and Depression (Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press, 1991) See also R. Simon, Revisiting the Relationships among Gender, Marital Status, and Mental Health, American Journal of Sociology 107 (January 2002) 1065-1096. 

In contrast, iproniazid, introduced in 1951 for treatment of tuberculosis, induced euphoria and was described as a psychic energiser . In fact, these patients, when given iproniazid, could become quite disruptive and this action was regarded as an undesirable side-effect However, its beneficial effects in depression were soon recognised and it was regarded as the first effective antidepressant drug. Studies of peripheral sympathetic neurons, later extended to noradrenergic neurons in the brain, showed that iproniazid irreversibly inhibits the catalytic enzyme, monoamine oxidase (MAO). Because only cytoplasmic monoamines are accessible to MAO, inhibition of this enzyme first increases the concentration of the pool of soluble transmitter but this leads to a secondary increase in the stores of vesicle-bound transmitter i.e. the pool available for impulse-evoked release (Fillenz and Stanford 1981). 

Ahmed FP, McLaughlin DP, Stanford SC, Stamford JA (2002) Maudsley reactive and non-reactive (MNRA) rats display hehavioral contrasts on exposure to an open field, the elevated plus maze or the dark-light shuttle hox. Abstract, FENS, Paris, France Ammassari-Teule A, Milhaud JM, Passino E, Restivo L, LassaUe JM (1999) Defective processing of contextual information may he involved in the poor performance of DBA/2 mice in spatial tasks. Behav Genet 29 283-289 Anisman H, Zalcman S, Shanks N, Zacharko RM (1991) Multisystem regulation of performance deficits induced hy stressors an animal model of depression. In Boulton AA, Baker GB, Martin-lverson MT (eds) Animal models in psychiatry, vol 2. Humana Press, Clifton, pp 1-59... 

Assistant Professor and Chief of Depression Clinic, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California... 

Consolo S, Wu CF, Fusi R (1987) Di receptor-linked mechanism modulates cholinergic neurotransmission in rat striatum. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 242 300-5 Consolo S, Arnaboldi S, Giorgi S, Russi G, Ladinsky H (1994) 5-HT4 receptor stimulation facilitates acetylcholine release in rat frontal cortex. Neuroreport 5 1230-2 Cooper AJ, Stanford IM (2001) Dopamine D2 receptor mediated presynaptic inhibition of stri-atopallidal GABAa IPSCs in vitro. Neuropharmacol 41 62-71 Cox B, Kerwin RW, Lee TF, Pycock CJ (1980) A dopamine-5-hydroxytryptamine link in the hypothalamic pathways which mediate heat loss in the rat. J Physiol 303 9-21 Dailly E, Chenu F, Renard CE, Bourin M (2004) Dopamine, depression and antidepressants. Fun-dam Clin Pharmacol 18 601-7... 

Because of these doubts, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has funded large clinical trials of St. John s wort efficacy in both moderate and severe depression. Although there have been numerous trials (mostly European) that have proved St. John s wort is an effective cure for anxiety or depression, the studies were often small and biased. NIMH s study used a large test group with careful controls and also was run by health professionals—unbiased physicians at reputable institutions (such as Duke and Stanford University). 

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