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Serotonin is a neurotransmitte r which helps brain cells communicate with one another, playing important roles in stabilising mood and regulating stress. Despite its importance, current models to explain serotonin's function in the brain remain incomplete. Now, in a review paper published this month in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, researchers from Imperial College London suggest that serotonin pathways are more nuanced than previously thought. They argue that the existing view should be updated to incorporate a 'two-pronged' model of how serotonin acts. The researchers believe their updated model could have implications for treating recalcitrant mental health conditions, including depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and addiction, and could exploit the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs. In the brain, serotonin acts via a number of sites called 'receptors' and serotonin has at least 14 of these. Brain drugs such antidepressants, anti...

Long-term use, which is associated with greater risk for addiction and overdose, increased threefold during the study's time frame. In 1999-2000, less than half of the people who were taking prescription opioids were taking them for 90 days or more. By 2013-2014, more than 70 percent were taking opioid medication on a long-term basis. The findings come as the U.S. grapples with a worsening opioid epidemic that on average is killing nearly 100 people a day, some from prescription opioids and others from illegal forms, primarily heroin. Last month, the Trump administration declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, a step that will allow the government to dispense additional federal funds for treatment. The study, published online in the journal  Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety , draws from survey data gathered by the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, which the National Center for Health Statistics has conducted every two years since 1999-20...