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Prescription for Trouble: Antidepressants might rewire young brains
"To test this theory, Gingrich's team treated litters of both normal and knockout mice with fluoxetine, an SSRI commonly known as Prozac. The time of treatment, from ages 4 days to 21 days, corresponds to the period from approximately the third trimester of pregnancy to age 8 years in people.
After the mice matured, the scientists exposed them to several stressful situations, such as mild foot shocks or new cages. Compared with normal mice that hadn't received the drug during their development, both knockouts and mice that had received fluoxetine earlier in life showed more signs of anxious and depressed behaviors. For example, these mice took significantly longer to try to avoid foot shocks and showed less interest in exploring new environments. ...
According to Gingrich, the research suggests that the serotonin transporter plays a pivotal role in normal brain formation. Consequently, if SSRIs block the transporter's function while the brain is still developing, they could permanently disrupt mechanisms that control mood. ..."
But also
"Many clinicians believe the drugs reduce the childhood suicide risk, which has dropped 25 percent since the early 1990’s. The decrease is sharpest in areas where antidepressant use is highest, Fassler said...."
Prescription for Trouble: Antidepressants might rewire young brains
"To test this theory, Gingrich's team treated litters of both normal and knockout mice with fluoxetine, an SSRI commonly known as Prozac. The time of treatment, from ages 4 days to 21 days, corresponds to the period from approximately the third trimester of pregnancy to age 8 years in people.
After the mice matured, the scientists exposed them to several stressful situations, such as mild foot shocks or new cages. Compared with normal mice that hadn't received the drug during their development, both knockouts and mice that had received fluoxetine earlier in life showed more signs of anxious and depressed behaviors. For example, these mice took significantly longer to try to avoid foot shocks and showed less interest in exploring new environments. ...
According to Gingrich, the research suggests that the serotonin transporter plays a pivotal role in normal brain formation. Consequently, if SSRIs block the transporter's function while the brain is still developing, they could permanently disrupt mechanisms that control mood. ..."
But also
"Many clinicians believe the drugs reduce the childhood suicide risk, which has dropped 25 percent since the early 1990’s. The decrease is sharpest in areas where antidepressant use is highest, Fassler said...."