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Human brain mapping publication fees6/25/2023 Lithium’s ability to act as a tranquilizer for people suffering from mania and bipolar disorder was discovered in 1949 by the Australian psychiatrist John Cade, but the drug was not approved by the U.S. ![]() “There are hypotheses, but nothing’s been proven.”ĭennis Kim, an associate professor of biology, is the senior author of the paper, which appears in the July 7 issue of Current Biology. “How lithium acts on the brain has been this great mystery of psychopharmacology,” says Joshua Meisel, an MIT postdoc and lead author of the study. While these behavioral effects in worms can’t be translated directly to humans, the results suggest a possible mechanism for lithium’s effects on the brain, which the researchers believe is worth exploring further. In a study of worms, the researchers identified a key protein that is inhibited by lithium, making the worms less active. MIT biologists have now discovered a possible explanation for how lithium works. While the drug has a good success rate, scientists are still unsure exactly how it achieves its beneficial effects. doctors have prescribed lithium to treat patients with bipolar disorder.
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