The serotonin hypothesis wasn’t always the dominant explanation for depression. The researchers further argue, “The idea that depression is the result of abnormalities in brain chemicals, particularly serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT), has been influential for decades,” such that today “80% or more of the general public now believe it is established that depression is caused by a ‘chemical imbalance.” 3 In light of this finding, one must ask-how did a hypothesis which failed to substantially prove the connection it is based on achieve such general acceptance? None of the studies were able to prove any significant link between serotonin levels and depression based on the above tenets, leading the researchers to conclude that “there is no convincing evidence that depression is associated with, or caused by, lower serotonin concentrations or activity.” 2 “(1) Serotonin and the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA-whether there are lower levels of serotonin and 5-HIAA in body fluids in depression (2) Receptors-whether serotonin receptor levels are altered in people with depression (3) The serotonin transporter (SERT)-whether there are higher levels of the serotonin transporter in people with depression (which would lower synaptic levels of serotonin) (4) Depletion studies-whether tryptophan depletion (which lowers available serotonin) can induce depression (5) SERT gene-whether there are higher levels of the serotonin transporter gene in people with depression (6) Whether there is an interaction between the SERT gene and stress in depression.” 1 The researchers analyzed a total of seventeen systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and other large studies focused on the following six tenets pertinent to the “serotonin hypothesis” of depression: In just two weeks since its publication it has been accessed by nearly half a million people and the subject of dozens of subsequent articles. 4 (July 1974)Ī recent study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry sent shockwaves across the scientific community and popular outlets as it disproved the predominant “serotonin hypothesis” of depression. SeptemThe Failed Serotonin Theory of Depression: A Marxist Analysis By Carlos L.
0 kommentar(er)
