What Happens in the Brain to Cause Depression?
The Joy of Why
Steven Strogatz, Janna Levin and Quanta Magazine
4.9 • 577 Ratings
🗓️ 23 May 2024
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For decades, the best drug therapies for treating depression, like SSRIs, have been based on the idea that depressed brains don’t have enough of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Yet for almost as long, it’s been clear that simplistic theory is wrong. Recent research into the true causes of depression is finding clues in other neurotransmitters and the realization that the brain is much more adaptable than scientists once imagined. Treatments for depression are being reinvented by drugs like ketamine that can help regrow synapses, which can in turn restore the right brain chemistry and improve whole body health.
In this episode, John Krystal, a neuropharmacologist at the Yale School of Medicine, tells Steve Strogatz about the new findings in mental health research that are revolutionizing psychiatric medication.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | According to the World Health Organization, 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression. |
| 0:14.0 | For decades, people with chronic depression have been told their problem lies with a chemical imbalance in the brain, specifically a deficit |
| 0:22.1 | in a neurotransmitter called serotonin. |
| 0:25.6 | And based on this theory, many have been prescribed antidepressants known as selective |
| 0:30.3 | serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, to correct this chemical imbalance. |
| 0:37.3 | This theory has become the common narrative, yet almost from the beginning, researchers have |
| 0:42.0 | questioned the role of serotonin in depression, even though SSRIs do seem to bring a lot |
| 0:47.4 | of relief to many people. |
| 0:49.6 | So if bad brain chemistry isn't at the root of chronic depression, what is? If the thinking behind |
| 0:55.9 | SSRIs is wrong, why do they seem to help? And is it possible that as we get closer to the |
| 1:01.9 | true cause of depression, we may find better treatments for other conditions as well? |
| 1:09.8 | I'm Steve Strogatz, and this is The Joy of Why, a podcast from Quantum Magazine, where my |
| 1:15.6 | co-host Jan 11 and I take turns exploring some of the biggest mysteries in math and science today. |
| 1:22.6 | Depression has touched my friends and colleagues, as I'm sure it has for many of you out there listening. |
| 1:30.3 | So I'm looking forward to learning more about the myths, the causes, and treatments of depression this mental health awareness month |
| 1:38.3 | with neuropharmacologist John Crystal. John is the chair of the Yale Department of Psychiatry and a professor at the Yale School of Medicine. |
| 1:47.0 | He's also the co-director of the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation and the co-founder of Freedom Biosciences, |
| 1:54.0 | which develops psychedelic therapeutics for mental health disorders. |
| 1:59.0 | He's a leading expert in the neurobiology of alcoholism, |
| 2:02.6 | post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, and depression, and perhaps best known for his research |
| 2:09.6 | into ketamine as a treatment for depression. John, thanks so much for joining us today. |
| 2:13.6 | Steve, great to be here. |
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