Neural Plasticity in Mood Disorders

Differences in functional connectivity may influence brain activity involved in emotional states, as summarized in another review (R. Ding et al., “Emotion Processing by ERP Combined with Development and Plasticity”). A new report in this volume suggests that Yueju, a Chinese traditional medicine, not only has antidepressant effects in the learned helplessness model but also involves similar mechanisms to other antidepressants (e.g., PKA, CREB, BDNF, and NMDA receptors) (Z. Zou et al., “Neural Plasticity Associated with Hippocampal PKA-CREB and NMDA Signaling Is Involved in the Antidepressant Effect of Repeated Low Dose of Yueju Pill on Chronic Mouse Model of Learned Helplessness”). [6] R. Wu, D. Zhu, Y. Xia, H. Wang, W. Tao, W. Xue, B. Xia, L. Ren, X. Zhou, G. Li, G. Chen, "A role of Yueju in fast-onset antidepressant action on major depressive disorder and serum BDNF expression: a randomly double-blind, fluoxetine-adjunct, placebo-controlled, pilot clinical study," Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, vol. 11, pp. 2013-2021, DOI: 10.2147/NDT.S86585, 2015.