Synaptic Plasticity

Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the U.S. Approximately 7% (17.3 million) of American adults had at least one major depressive episode in 2017. Roughly 10 percent of the U.S. population is afflicted with major depressive disorder at any… Read More

For the nearly 30 percent of major depressive disorder patients who are resistant to treatment, ketamine provides some amount of normalcy, but it requires frequent treatment and can have side effects. Vanderbilt researchers now show in proof-of-concept experiments that it may be possible to extend ketamine’s antidepressant effect from about a week to up to two months. Read More

Research from Teru Nakagawa, professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, describes intricacies of normal brain function with implications for our understanding of brain injury and recovery: A decrease in pH can modify a neurotransmitter receptor’s structure, thereby modulating its location and kinetics. Read More