Mechanism found in the seasonal mood swings

Canadian researchers have alterations in the activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin metabolism, found depending on the season, which can account for seasonal variations in mood and seasonal affective disorder. Serotonin - a chemical messenger that signals between the nerve cells (neurons) in the brain transmits systems responsible for the formation of the atmosphere, food and sexual behavior of energy and sleep. His role in the seasonal mood swings have long suspected. A study at the University of Toronto conducted has demonstrated a possible mechanism for this interaction. As any neurotransmitter serotonin is released in the synaptic cleft neuron signal and acts on the receptors of the neuron which receives the signal. One of the most important regulators of serotonin in the synaptic cleft, a protein carrier, exciting the excess back into the transmission neuron. Accordingly, the higher the activity of the carrier, the lower the effect of serotonin. By blocking the protein of modern antidepressants. Canadian researchers investigated the activity of the serotonin transporter in 88 healthy subjects (mean age 33 years) at different times of the year, using positron emission tomography. It appeared that this activity significantly higher in people interviewed in the fall and winter, was in the short days. Moreover, when comparing the results of the investigation with meteorological data showed that the activity of the serotonin transporter days was highest with a minimum of a sundial. Austrian researchers have been depending on the illumination level of activity of the serotonin transporter in human platelets, which also showed serotonin receptors. Became the first Canadian study to confirm this dependence in the neurons of the brain directly involved in the formation of attitudes. These data convincingly explain the frequent occurrence in the autumn-winter period of the symptoms associated with serotonin deficiency: fatigue, lethargy and overeating.