Neurochemical Activities

Preliminary results from case reports, case series, and open and increasingly better controlled trials have found TMS to be effective in the treatment of depression. TMS, antidepressants, and ECS appear to induce similar effects in animal behavioral models of depression and changes in brain neurochemical activity. These include changes in the forced swim test, increase in seizure threshold, and effects on b-noradrenergic receptor downregulation. Whereas seizures appear unnecessary to achieve clinical benefit with TMS, it is still unclear what aspects are beneficial. As noted earlier, although this modality is associated with some complications (e.g., headaches and, rarely, inadvertent seizure) relative to ECT and perhaps even pharmacotherapy under certain situations, it appears to be quite safe. Future studies of major depression should explore TMS-related issues such as the following ... 

Many disparate approaches have been employed to classify CNS effects of pharmaceuticals [24]. Some databases group compounds according to presumed correlations between identified active molecular species and specific neuroanatomical sites or neurochemical activities believed to mediate observed CNS effects. Most classification schemes rely on major observed CNS-mediated activity associated with a substance under investigation. 

Fig. 5.6 Effect of monocyline on neurochemical activities in brain and spinal cord...

Healthy newborn human infants are endowed with a highly sensitive sense of smell. Moreover, there are documented accounts of olfactory learning during the early postpartum period. In the present chapter, we present a brief overview of the relevant research literature and suggest tentatively that olfactory learning may be facilitated by neurochemical activities associated with labor and delivery, and memory traces of odors learned shortly after birth may be retained more efficiently than early postnatal memories involving other sensory modalities (i.e., vision and audition). 

Dendrobine (13) lowers blood pressure and has weak antipyretic and analgesic action. This alkaloid modulates glycine neurochemical activity (Wink, 1993). 

Carbon Fiber Microelectrodes for the in vivo Measurement of Neurotransmitters A Close Up Look at Neurochemical Activity in the Brain... 

---