While they have been widely used for decades, no one knew exactly why two mainstays of psychiatric treatment — lithium chloride for bipolar disorder and electroconvulsive (or electroshock) therapy for major depression — worked. But new discoveries are illuminating how these treatments affect brain function, answering old questions and opening the door to new, more effective therapies that may have fewer side effects. Research fellow Qing-Jun Meng and a team at the University of Manchester found that lithium blocks the activity of an enzyme that affects the brain’s master ... Read More
