Have you ever wondered why SSRIs take time to show effects? A new study has delved into why antidepressants like SSRIs take weeks to start working and how this may impact mental health care.

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SSRIs, or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, belong to a category of antidepressant drugs designed to elevate serotonin levels in the brain. Notable examples of SSRIs include fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and escitalopram (Lexapro).

These medications generally have few unpleasant side effects and can be highly effective in treating various mood disorders, including depression and certain anxiety disorders. However, one significant drawback of SSRIs is the delayed onset of their therapeutic effects — SSRIs often take several weeks to show noticeable improvements in mood.

This extended period before “kicking in” poses challenges for patients and healthcare providers. Yet, the reason behind this lag in action is not well understood.

Jeanette Norden, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Emerita, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, explores how the brain learns and remembers. This video focuses on a discussion of how the brain is organized in general.

These lectures will provide the foundation.
information necessary to the understanding.
of the lectures which will follow. A special.
emphasis will be given to systems in the brain.
that underlie learning and memory, attention.
and awareness. These introductory lectures.
will be followed by a lecture on how different.
areas of the brain encode different, specific.
types of information—from the phone number.
we need only remember for a few minutes or.
less to the childhood memories we retain for.
a lifetime. We will also address the \.