Neuroprotection
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2015
- Messages
- 1,264
most of us know about neuroactive steroids, How they are derived from sex hormones and how they work too either enhance GABAA or NMDA glutamate receptors depending on the steroid in question.
With those mechanisms, we can imagine how neurosteroids modulate mood by calming or exciting particular areas of the brain and in terms of rewarding effects, they’ve been shown to trigger the activity of the VTA and promote dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. that’s no surprise, most rewarding/addictive drugs do that.
However, I am very surprised by some articles I recently came across which suggest the following: neurosteroids are actually necessary for the proper functioning of the dopamine D1 receptor pathway at the post synaptic level. if I remember correctly, the way they prove this is by administering the drug finasteride which prevents neurosteroid synthesis in key areas of the brain. i’ll provide some links in the next post. to summarise, the key findings were that finasteride and related 5alpha reductase inhibitors produced potent anti-dopaminergic effects in animal models. aside from hair loss, finasteride has actually been considered to manage ticks and impulse control disorders in humans.
Some have suggested it for schizophrenia, though I very much doubt it will work for that condition. Finasteride causes. horrible psychological effects in many healthy people, a schizophrenic certainly doesn’t need those on top of their own condition.
With those mechanisms, we can imagine how neurosteroids modulate mood by calming or exciting particular areas of the brain and in terms of rewarding effects, they’ve been shown to trigger the activity of the VTA and promote dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. that’s no surprise, most rewarding/addictive drugs do that.
However, I am very surprised by some articles I recently came across which suggest the following: neurosteroids are actually necessary for the proper functioning of the dopamine D1 receptor pathway at the post synaptic level. if I remember correctly, the way they prove this is by administering the drug finasteride which prevents neurosteroid synthesis in key areas of the brain. i’ll provide some links in the next post. to summarise, the key findings were that finasteride and related 5alpha reductase inhibitors produced potent anti-dopaminergic effects in animal models. aside from hair loss, finasteride has actually been considered to manage ticks and impulse control disorders in humans.
Some have suggested it for schizophrenia, though I very much doubt it will work for that condition. Finasteride causes. horrible psychological effects in many healthy people, a schizophrenic certainly doesn’t need those on top of their own condition.
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