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Science 11 September 1970:
Vol. 169. no. 3950, pp. 1100 - 1102
DOI: 10.1126/science.169.3950.1100
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Articles

Serotonin-Containing Neurons in Brain: Depression of Firing by Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors

George K. Aghajanian 1, Allan W. Graham 1, and Michael H. Sheard 1

1 Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven 06519

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors were administered to rats while the activities of single, serotonin-containing neurons of the midbrain raphe nuclei were being monitored with microelectrodes. All the inhibitors tested (pargyline, tranylcypromine, phenelzine, iproniazid) caused depression of raphe unit firing rate. The ability of monoamine oxidase inhibitors to depress raphe units was impaired by prior treatment with p-chlorophenylalanine, an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Effects of Amitriptyline and Imipramine on Amine Metabolites in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Depressed Patients.
R. M. Post and F. K. Goodwin (1974)
Arch Gen Psychiatry 30, 234-239
   Abstract »    PDF »
Brain Serotonin Content: Physiological Dependence on Plasma Tryptophan Levels.
J. D. Fernstrom and R. J. Wurtman (1971)
Science 173, 149-152
   Abstract »    PDF »


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