How Does Serotonin Affect the Brain?
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What is Serotonin?
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Serotonin is a molecule made by only a few different cells in the brain. Though it is only produced in the brain, most of the serotonin is found throughout the body. The sequence for producing the molecule starts with the amino acid tryptophan. Because the body cannot create tryptophan on its own, the body must eat foods that contain it otherwise serotonin levels will decrease over time. The cells that make serotonin are called serotonergic neurons. Between 60 and 75 percent of the serotonin in the body is found in one of nine main serotonergic nuclei around the body.
How Does Serotonin Affect the Brain?
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Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps different parts of the brain communicate with each other. Serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and gamma aminobutyric acid are types of neurotransmitters that regulate mental health. Usually, serotonin decreases various behaviors such as eating, sexual desire and pain levels. Serotonin also affects a person's sleep patterns and aggression.
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How is Serotonin Used to Treat Mental Disorders?
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Serotonin is used in the treatment of depression. These drugs act in a variety of ways. They interfere with reuptake by disabling serotonin before it is released, interfere with the process of making serotonin and prevent the serotonin from binding. A number of selective serotonin uptake inhibitors have been created and are used. Prozac uses fluoxetine, Paxil uses paroxetine and Zoloft uses sertraline. These drugs are as effective as traditional medications but have much milder side effects. Because of the limited side effects, they are often used for treating elderly patients or people not in inpatient care. Nefazodone is another medication used to treat depression based on limiting serotonin uptake. Nefazodone is even more effective than selective serotonin uptake inhibitors at limiting serotonin uptake without having a negative sexual side affects.
Recent Serotonin Studies
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In 2008, the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet did a study attempting to determine why women suffer from chronic depression at much higher rates than men. Researchers found that the brains of women have significantly more serotonin receptors than men do. Their study also found that women have a smaller amount of the protein that returns serotonin to the cells that produce it.
Another study by scientists at England's University of Cambridge and UCLA found that serotonin levels have an effect on how humans perceive fairness. The study gave participants a drink that decreased their serotonin levels and then presented them with a variety of offers, some fair, some unfair. Those with the decreased levels of serotonin were much more likely to decline the unfair offers.
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