Day Three: Reporting Live from the American Psychiatric Associaton Annual Meeting

Hi, Has anyone presented information regarding brain cell atrophy? and the role Lithium may play in protecting the brain from atrophy? or possibly showing renewed cell growth? Thanks! ********************************************** HI, Stephany. Not this year. But check out my website at www.mcmanweb.com and enter manji into the search field and you'll get what you're looking for. I've covered the field and look forward to summarizing these exciting findings in a future blog. John

Hi John, Thanks for your brilliant blog and website! Question: is the emphasis still too much on serotonin? The 'serotonin hypothesis' seems to drive research as if an actual link to depression had actually been established--but it hasn't. I have this to thank for my prescription of Seroxat/Paxil which led to major personality change (I was lucky to escape being jailed!). ****************************************************** Hi Denni. I'll quote from Thomas Insel MD and Francis Collins MD, PhD, directors of the NIMH and Human Genome Project, respectively, writing in the April 2003 AJP: "We have a treasure trove of new genes to explore, including many that may prove more important than the few neurotransmitters and intracellular signaling molecules that have been studied so intensively these past 50 years." Short answer: Yes, way too much emphasis on serotonin. John