How Does Lithium Affect the Brain?

Many people know that lithium is used to control bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness), but researchers are only now beginning to uncover how exactly lithium affects the brain. For more than years, individuals with bipolar disorder have been taking lithium. Research has now led to the possibility that lithium can also help to reduce the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Although many of the studies on lithium have been conducted on the brains of rats, scientists believe that the results of the studies may be able to be applied to humans as well.

Protection Against Brain Cell Death

As people age, their neurons, or brain cells, naturally begin to die off. A study published in Neuropharmacology proved that lithium prevents neuronal death in rats. It accomplished this by causing the body to produce BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a protein that helps to maintain and develop neurons. Researchers believe that this effect of lithium may hold true in humans as well.

Stimulation of Neural Growth

Until the 1990s, people believed that adult human brains could not stimulate the growth of brand new neurons. After learning further about the brain, we understand that adult brains can and do produce new neurons, albeit less so than infant brains do. A study in the Journal of Neurochemistry found that lithium actually promotes this neural growth in rats by 25 percent.

Increase in Gray Matter

Gray matter is an important part of the brain that is responsible for logical thought. Researchers at the Wayne State University School of Medicine did a study concerning ten people with bipolar disorder who were given lithium at a theraputic level. They examined MRIs of the subjects' brains after the lithium was administered, and they discovered that the gray matter increased by an average of 3 percent.

Spatial Memory

In common lingo, spatial memory is known as "sense of direction." Although little research has been conducted to show the link between lithium and spatial memory, the limited studies show that rats were able to navigate a maze within 24 hours of being exposed to lithium.

Prevention of Alzheimer's

Because of the reasons above, it is logical to assume that lithium could be helpful in combating Alzheimer's disease. There is, however, another effect that lithium has on the brain that could be even more helpful. Lithium has been shown to inhibit two of the three most characteristic features of Alzheimer's: amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The third character feature of Alzheimer's? Neural death.