SSRI dopaminergic effects

[WiseOne]

This may or may not be a stupid thread.

I happened to be reading on how anticholinergic medication can increase the risk of dementia long-term, even after a very short amount of use. I was thinking, this must mean that the brain doesn't fully reverse whatever changes are induced by anticholinergics on the cholinergic system. I am not sure what the exact mechanism is. I was thinking by analogy, how antidepressants are known to have inhibitory effects on dopaminergic signaling, and that some people tend to report apparent problems long after discontinuation. I am not well versed in neuroscience so I was wondering if the brains response to SSRIs dopaminergic effects could be anything similar to its response to anticholinergic med effects? Thanks.

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[WiseOne]

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[wolfvgang22]

It's not a stupid thread. I don't think anybody really knows the answer based on my reading of the literature, though there is some speculation and lots of anecdotes. This is a ripe area for additional investigation.

 

[thoffen]

Also agree that it's not a stupid thread. And also that a clear answer is incredibly difficult to establish unless the connection is pretty robust. That said, if no one is looking into that hypothesis then an important finding might be missed.

 

[Shikima]

Dopaminergic mechanism of antidepressant action in depressed patients - ScienceDirect