Scientists have discovered why common antidepressants cause approximately half of their users to feel emotionally “blunted.” According to a new study, the drugs have an effect on reinforcement learning, an important behavioural process that allows people to learn from their surroundings. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a popular class of antidepressants, especially for chronic…
Tag: anti-depressants
Amygdala Scans Useful for Predicting Recovery on Antidepressants
Combining new brain scan techniques with patient information about any early life trauma can predict with unprecedentedly high (80%) accuracy whether a depressed patient is likely to recover with anti-depressant medications (ADM), or not, a team of Australian and United States mental health researchers has found. The ability to predict ADM response is important because,…