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On the evening of June 23, 2022, Hu Hailan, executive director of the Neuroscience Center of Zhejiang University, China, won the 
022 "World Outstanding Female Scientist Achievement" for her major discoveries in social and emotional neuroscience. prize".
As of now, Professor Hu Hailan is the seventh Chinese winner of this honor.
The pioneering research of Professor Hu Hailan's team has revolutionized people's understanding of mental health, cracked the "code" of emotions, and provided a theoretical basis for the development of innovative treatments and new drugs for depression.
In recent years, as the epidemic era continues, it seems that mental illness has become more and more visible, and at the same time, everyone has begun to gradually pay attention to the field of mental health.
As a common mental illness - depression. After being misunderstood for many years,
finally began to be gradually recognized and well-known. Although it is still misunderstood by many people, compared with the obscurity before, more and more patients and family members are beginning to face up to this common emotional black dog.
This will undoubtedly have a huge promotion effect on the treatment and recovery of depression patients .
Among the current treatment options for depression, "drug treatment + psychotherapy" is still the method recommended by the mainstream mental health system.
However, there are still many problems that can be improved in the drug treatment of depressed patients, such as: the drug takes three to four weeks to take effect; the side effects are obvious; the match between the patient and the drug is still difficult to accurately grasp...
Maybe I have encountered many cases of depressed patients in the hospital, so I will pay special attention to research and diagnosis and treatment methods related to depression.
After learning about the breakthrough of Professor Hu Hailan's team in depression research, I couldn't help but write an article to share it with you.
I think the results of this next study may give many patients with depression greater confidence and courage to face it.
Similarly, for patients who have relapsed many times, the emergence of this result may promote the development of timely and fast-acting depression drugs, and may help us get rid of depression faster.
Mastering the emotional code: the mechanism of depression
In February 2018, a Chinese research team headed by Professor Hu Hailan published two articles on depression in "Nature". The research team explored ways to quickly relieve depression and the pathogenesis of depression. Research was conducted and a major breakthrough was made!
One article reveals that increased burst activity of brain neurons is a key factor in depressive-like behavior. The study mainly suggests a new model of the pathogenesis of depression:
Under external pressure stimulation, the brain's "anti-reward center" - - the expression of glial cells Kir4.1 ion channels in the lateral habenula is up-regulated. The concentration of extracellular potassium ions in neurons decreases, which promotes the conversion of neurons from single discharges to clustered discharge patterns, causing to over-inhibit the downstream reward centers (including the ventral tegmental area VTA and dorsal raphe nucleus DR), thus Resulting in depressive phenotypes such as anhedonia and behavioral despair.
The place where "happiness" occurs is called in research: the reward center.
Because the "reward center" is the source of nuclear pleasure, cardiac pleasure, and reward-related chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin.
The general meaning of the research results is: Depressive episodes are caused by abnormal discharge of brain neurons under the stimulation of external pressure or the influence of psychological factors, which leads to the suppression of "happiness" in the process of transmitting nerve information, and then produces Weak mobility and a sense of hopelessness in life.
This study once again explains to the world: "Depression is not just a simple psychological problem!"
It is a physical and mental disease that already has changes in brain function.
At the same time, there is once again a neuroscientific explanation for the outside world's belief that depressed patients are "artificial" and "hypocritical."
The other article is about research on the role of ketamine (Ketamine, a surgical anesthetic, also called ketamine, the main component of K powder) in the treatment of depression.
The results showed that after revealing a special discharge mode of the lateral habenula - cluster discharge is a sufficient condition for the occurrence of depression , it also found new targets that can make ketamine effectively prevent this brain disorder. Area of cluster discharge . In this way, in the process of brain neuron information transmission, can effectively block the "happiness suppression" situation and inhibit the occurrence of depression.
For the specific process, we can refer to the figure below:
The popular meaning is: at low doses, ketamine can effectively suppress the patient's depressive episodes and depressed mood, and the effect is rapid, and good results may be achieved in a few hours or a day. This may be good news for patients with severe depression.
Because ketamine has been shown to be 70% effective in patients with treatment-resistant depression (where traditional medications are ineffective). For patients with suicidal thoughts, ketamine may be able to almost eliminate them within an hour.
Due to its addictive side effects, ketamine is prone to addiction even at low doses, and is strictly controlled in the medical field. Therefore, it is unlikely to use ketamine as a treatment for clinical depression.
However, Professor Hu Hailan’s team and based on the research results are starting a new drug molecular structure test. The main content is to change the molecular structure of ketamine, retain its antidepressant effect, and remove its addictive effect.
In the above two studies, the two new targets discovered by Professor Hu Hailan's team will also be the focus of later research and development of depression drugs, and the discovered targets also have the effect of blocking depressive episodes.
And two or three years ago, Professor Hu Hailan was already working with the clinical team on the idea of "new use of old drugs" to treat depression.
The above research on the mechanism of depression and drug action targets plays a vital role in the development of new antidepressants with fewer side effects, faster effects, and safer antidepressants. It can also be regarded as the most critical step in the long journey of thousands of miles. !
Although no new antidepressants have been developed yet, this crucial step is indeed the key to unlocking the code of depression.
This provides us with new ideas and confidence in re-examining this common disease and how to fight it.
I believe that with the advancement of science and the efforts of countless scientists, the treatment of depression will become more convenient, effective and safe in the future.
Therefore, I hope we will be less afraid of this disease and pay more attention to the patients!
END
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