At 02:36 PM 03/14/2000 +0100, Anders Sandberg wrote:
>> IAN: If both Prozac and PCP modify behavior by
>> raising serotonin, I'd say they work in a similar
>> way (which of course is not to say all things they
>> do are similar). PCP, like Prozac, is believed to
>> modify behavior by increasing serotonin levels.
>
>The main effect of PCP is more complex, and deals with how it messes
>up the dopaminergic activity of the ventral tegmental area and nucleus
>accumbens through its NMDA-antagonist activity, something that
>serotonin to my knowledge does not.
>
>There are many kinds of serotonin receptors with very different
>functions in the brain. That something increases serotonin levels
>doesn't tell much, the important question is *where* it increases
>serotonin levels. Also, Prozac is a specific reuptake inhibitor, not
>an agonist or antagonist, so the effects would be very much different
>from PCP even if they acted on the same systems.
IAN: I don't think we can ever say the two drugs
are the same. But the research I cited along with
additional studies link PCP-induced pathologoical
behavior to increased 5-HT. Of all attributes of
PCP's effect, that's a most-relevant category.
You mention the nucleus accumbens and the need for
the two drugs to raise 5-HT in common areas. A study
in the European Journal of Neuroscience (1999;11(12))
found that PCP-induced locomotion (tangentially
associated with aggressive behavior) is linked to
increases of 5-HT in the nucleus accumbens. A
study in the Journal of Pharmacology & Experimental
Therapeutics (1997;282(1)) found that Prozac also
increases 5-HT in the nucleus accumbens. Indicating
a common effect on aggressive potential via the
nucleus accumbens, a study in the journal European
Neuropsychopharmacology (1999;9(1-2)) found that:
"Fluoxetine [Prozac] given acutely increased and
prolonged the PCP-induced locomotor hyperactivity."
Chronic Prozac use also increased hyperactivity.
It's important to note that drug effects can be
highly individualized, and the research generally
isolates average effects. Not everyone goes insane
on PCP or on Prozac, but some do, on either drug,
including hallucinations. Since both drugs are SSRI's
that alter behavior via increasing serotonin, and
since hallucinations are also linked to increasing
serotonin, it's plausible to hypnotize a common basis.
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