Posted by Squiggles on August 8, 2005, at 16:44:18
In reply to Re: Neurogenerative properties of lithium, posted by linkadge on August 8, 2005, at 15:22:37
Here is one good Google hit i got on
neurotrophic lithium
Notice the meaning of neurotrophic - i.e.
much like a fertilizer or growth accelerator
of neurons;biopsychiatry.com/neurotrophic-moodstabilisers.htm
[insert http://www. prior to line]The foundation of this theory seems to rest
on postmortem brain findings of cell atrophy
and loss in depressives and manic-depressives.
This is correlated by MRI studies, i.e. "CNS
volume reduction" [gives a really new twist
to the phrase head-shrinker :-)];Chronic lithium uses does two things accoding
to this article:1. has neuroprotective effects in preclinical
paradigms [i am not sure what this means],and
2. enhances hippocampal neurogenesis
[ does this mean that the hippcampus neuronal
activity improves or actually changes in
structure?] N-acetylaspartate is mentioned
as something that is increased by lithium - it
is a marker - is this significant to the observation of the brain or to is function?As for the MRI evidence of gross general
increase in brain matter volume - can we
ask if this is a good thing? Is it necessarily
related to the smaller brain volume seen
in depressives? Or are there other states
or conditions were small brain volume is
idiosyncratic (e.g. women are known to have
smaller brains) or just different individuals.
Furthermore, is there evidence that affective
disorders actually shrink the brain, or could
it be something else, such as disease, or
very high on my list - drugs.And once gain, my pet question if infact
lithium and other mood-stabilizers can
contribute to not only neuroprotection but
neural growth of the brain , that should
make it immune to further depression states.
But as we see when the drug is stopped, the
depression returns. Perhaps i just have a hard
time understanding this.Thanks for reading.
Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:538676
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050803/msgs/539251.html