Study finds that antidepressants quickly change the brain's structure

Study finds that antidepressants quickly change the brain's structure
(Image credit: iStock)

A new study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology found that antidepressants work faster than previously thought, despite the fact that it usually takes patients at least two weeks to report any changes in mood.

More than one in 10 U.S. adults use SSRIs, which block the reabsorption of serotonin in the brain; commonly prescribed SSRIs include Prozac, Lexapro, Celexa, and Paxil. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany used an MRI machine to look at the gray matter of participants who took SSRIs and those who didn't, and using the images to create 3D maps of certain neural connections.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.