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It's winter here in the northern hemisphere, the days are short and moods are low. For some people, even the thought of Christmas isn't enough to lift their mood. Depression can affect up to two out ...

2. How is serotonin made? Serotonin is made via a unique biochemical conversion process. It begins with tryptophan, a building block to proteins. Cells that make serotonin use tryptophan hydroxylase, ...

You've all heard the analogy that depression is like diabetes, a "chemical imbalance" in the brain. The chemical most often mentioned as imbalanced is a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which is ...

The possibility of using a blood test to detect depression has been demonstrated by researchers. While blood tests for mental illnesses have until recently been regarded as impossible, a recent study ...

When they work, antidepressants can be a godsend. But they only work in about half of the patients who take them. And if the first attempt doesn't work, there are second- and third-line options to ...

Nace Golding, a neuroscientist at the University of Texas at Austin, and his team were surprised to find that serotonin also regulates the sensitivity of auditory neurons, brain cells involved in ...

Serotonin is an essential neurotransmitter. It's a chemical that regulates some vital functions in the body like mood, appetite and sleep cycles. Lower levels of it have been linked to anxiety, ...

The study builds on earlier animal research, where mice lost serotonin function before showing signs of Alzheimer’s. In those ...

Ketamine is a drug used to induce general anesthesia. It has also been found to act rapidly to relieve depression that has failed to respond to two other rounds of medication. A new study published in ...