• Posted September 23, 2024

Could Antidepressants Give Memory a Boost?

Antidepressants have the potential to improve memory and thinking skills, a new study suggests.

Some patients experienced a boost on brain tests after taking the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram (Lexapro), researchers report.

The drug appeared to affect a serotonin receptor in the brain called the 5HT4 receptor, according to results published recently in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Serotonin is described as a “feel good” hormone, researchers said in background notes. Higher levels of serotonin in the brain contribute to a sense of well-being and have been shown to ease clinical depression.

“It seems that the SSRI medication contributes to an improvement on cognitive function, at the same time as helping improve mood,” said lead investigator Vibeke Dam, a senior researcher in neurology and neurobiology with Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

“Our work ties the improvement in cognitive function to the specific 5HT4 receptor and suggest that direct serotonin 4 receptor stimulation may be an important pro-cognitive target to consider in optimizing outcomes of antidepressant treatment,” Dam added in a journal news release. “It also reinforces the idea that serotonin is crucial to mood improvement."

For the study, researchers scanned the brains of 90 depressed patients to measure 5HT4 receptor function in their brains. The patients also were tested for mood problems and cognitive abilities.

Then the patients were given daily escitalopram (Lexapro) for eight weeks. At the end of the study, 40 patients were rescanned and retested.

What did they find? The patients’ performance on cognitive tests had improved -- particularly their ability to recall words -- and this performance appeared to be linked to higher activity with the 5HT4 receptor.

“This work points to the possibility of stimulating this specific receptor so that we can treat cognitive problems, even aside from whether or not the patient has overcome the core symptoms of depression,” said lead researcher Dr. Vibe Froekjaer, a clinical professor of neuropsychiatry with Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

The team’s next step will be to treat patients with drugs that specifically target the 5HT4 receptor, and then assess the effect on their brain function. Serotonin is found in the gut, and there are irritable bowel syndrome drugs that specifically bind to and stimulate 5HT4 receptors, researchers said.

Researchers also presented these findings Monday at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s annual meeting in Milan.

The study “demonstrates the intimate role of brain 5HT4 receptors in cognitive function,” said Philip Cowen, a professor of psychopharmacology with the University of Oxford.

“This confirms recent work from Oxford showing that the 5HT4 receptor stimulant, prucalopride -- a drug licensed for the treatment of constipation -- improves memory in both healthy participants and people at risk of depression,” said Cowen, who was not involved in the study.

More information

The National Institutes of Health has more on antidepressants.

SOURCE: European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, news release, Sept. 23, 2024