2003-08-08

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New nerves may fight depression: Prozac and other antidepressants may boost brain-cell birth.

Common antidepressants such as Prozac lift mood by spawning new brain cells, suggests a new study. The finding might give rise to more potent drugs that directly boost nerve production. The report attempts to solve a conundrum: why many antidepressants take several weeks to take effect despite boosting brain chemicals within days. This applies to selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which raise available levels of the nerve-to-nerve signal serotonin, and tricyclic antidepressants, which bump up norepinephrine levels.