Anti-depressants can Affect Brain Connectivity and Architecture: Study

A single dose of anti-depressants can change the brain's overall functioning and architecture in just three hours, finds a study.

Anti-depressant medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRI give relief from everyday stress, depression, anxiety and serious mental disturbances. But, findings of a new research warn these drugs have the ability to alter brain connectivity and functioning. The experts from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, using MRI scans and 3D imaging examined variations in brain structures and grey volume of patients who were on SSRI based medications. At the time of experiment, the participants were not told of any details about the trial so as to not to worry them.

"We just tell them to let their minds wander and not think of anything particularly dramatic or upsetting," said Julia Sacher, co-author and neuroscientist at the Max Planck Institute, reports the Times.

After scanning the subjects' brain, the researchers were able to detect areas with more serotonin, a neurotransmitter, which had undergone a drastic decrease in connectivity in just 90 minutes.

These changes were mostly prominent in grey matter in the brains of subjects who were under anti-depressant medications. However, not every brain region responded similarly to the SSRI.

"It was interesting to see two patterns that seemed to go in the opposite direction. What was really surprising was that the entire brain would light up after only three hours. We didn't expect that," adds Sacher, reports the Daily Digest.

The authors believe their results will enable doctors and psychiatrists to decide the best treatment and medication for patients of chronic depression and mental illnesses. Further investigation is needed, say the researches.

More information is available online in the journal Current Biology.