Neuropsychopharmacology and the Affective Disorders

Neuropharmacologic Studies of Drugs Used in the Affective DisordersSince the initial observation that reserpine, a drug that could cause depression in some patients, depletes the brain of various biogenic amines in animals, whereas the monoamine oxidase inhibitor antidepressants increase levels of biogenic amines in the central nervous system, the effects of these and other psychoactive drugs on biogenic amine metabolism have been extensively studied. The catecholamines, norepinephrine and dopamine, and the indoleamine, serotonin, are the brain monoamines that have received the greatest attention. Norepinephrine is present in many areas of the brain, but it is most highly concentrated in . . .