Functional Neuroimaging: Mapping Psychiatric Illness

The discovery of ketamine’s therapeutic potential for psychiatric disorders changed the field of mental health, since nearly every FDA-approved medication for schizophrenia and mood disorders targeted monoamine signaling, i.e., dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. As ketamine was initially used as an anaesthetic, ketamine’s ability to modulate monoamine signaling pathways emerged, leading to ground-breaking breakthroughs. In this […]

The discovery of the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine shifted the biology and treatment of psychiatric disorders, emphasizing targeting glutamate signaling, rather than monoamine signaling, for schizophrenia and depression. Research highlights synaptic deficits, network disinhibition, and synaptic loss in schizophrenia, while identifying glutamate synaptic dysfunction and the efficacy of ketamine for depression. In this touchNEUROLOGY […]

Professor Emeritus of Addiction Medicine, Hannu Alho (University of Helsinki, Finland) discusses the need for effective treatment options to manage alcohol use disorder, focusing on odansetron as a newly emerging possibility. Ondansetron is a specific 5HT3-receptor antagonist, which blocks 5HT3 receptors in the gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system, and has been used since the […]